The Inbetween
by Slytherin's Dragon
Summary: Dumbledore is up to his meddling ways. Unfortunately, unlike canon, his conjectures are completely off the mark and his methods trigger something far more than he had ever bargained for. I am not updating this anymore because I am doing a rewrite. See first chapter for details.
1. I - Dumbledore's First Mistake

**The Inbetween** - by Slytherin's Dragon

**4/3/13:** After major thinking,I am doing a rewrite of this story. I have the first chapter posted. It's going to be a little different, but based on the same concept. I am going to keep this up for now. It's titled The Inbetween - Reimagined - SD

First HP fanfic attempt! Reviews motivate me and I will take thoughts/criticism into account. And off we go.

**2/7/13: **This is not a Harry/Ginny story, nor will there be explicit slash.

**Note: **I don't own Harry Potter. All I own is university debt :(

* * *

**Chapter I - Dumbledore's First Mistake**

**October 31, 1981**

"Albus! You can't be serious about leaving Harry with those muggles!" Minerva McGonagall exclaimed worriedly as Dumbledore, Hagrid and herself walked in the quiet neighbourhood of Little Whinging.

"It's for the best, Minerva." Dumbledore spoke gravely.

The odd threesome walked turned towards an ordinary house with a perfectly manicured lawn. Hagrid still had tears coursing down his cheek. He had baby Harry cradled lovingly in his big arms.

"But Lily's sister hates magic! Abhors it, Albus!"

"Harry will be safe here." Dumbledore deflected.

He raised his wand and began building up a complex series of wards. His mental cogs churned as he thought about his plans. Dumbledore knew that Tom was still alive and would one day come back and with the knowledge of the prophecy, he knew he would have to groom Harry to be the hero of the wizarding world. Giving Harry a humble start will make him easier to move on his chessboard later. Plus, family was family, and there's no way that the Dursleys would abuse their nephew.

When little Harry was placed on the doorstep along with a letter there was a subtle pop of Apparition and all was normal again on Privet Drive.

* * *

**Years later...**

Harry flinched when Vernon's leather belt struck his bare back. He was in trouble after his whale of a cousin Dudley had tripped him. The resulting trip resulted in the breakage of Petunia's favourite horribly flowered plate and the ruining of bacon that Harry had laboured over this morning.

"You ungrateful bastard!" Vernon's curses could be heard throughout the house. "We brought you in after your freaks got themselves killed in a car crash and you break your Aunt's favourite plate! Is this how you show gratitude, boy!"

A succession of lashes whistled through the air. Harry broke after the seventh lash in tears, his uncle's tirade getting louder with each inflicted mark. Before he knew it, Uncle Vernon had picked him up and thrown him back into his closet. Harry hit the wall.

"Stay in the closet for a week, freak." Harry blacked out shortly after.

* * *

An uncertain amount of time later, Harry felt himself come to. It was dark in the closet and it stank of fecal matter and blood. It was cold. The only thing that he had for warmth was a baggy old shirt and overly large sweatpants that had belonged to Dudley and a pile of rags on the floor.

He felt pain. But that was a state that Harry was familiar with. His uncle had beaten him up over the smallest infractions including "violations" such as looking at his Dudley the wrong way over the past years that he had lived with them. The worst beatings occurred when Harry did non explainable things, such as levitating and animating some of Dudley's unwanted toys when he was barely two, and when his hair grew back after his Aunt had shaved his hair to Dudley's merriment in an attempt to tame the unruliness.

Harry used to cry every time he was punished but as the beatings continued, he found himself growing increasingly emotionally apathetic. He used to feel hatred and anger towards his relatives, but that was being replaced with indifference. Sometimes, he would look at wounds inflicted by his uncle and watch the rich red blood ooze. Blood fascinated him. But this time, seeing as most of the damage was done to his back, he was denied the pleasure.

Huddled under the putrid blankets, Harry shivered. He tried to think of the warmth of summer, when Dudley got to eat ice cream while he got none. When that failed, Harry pictured fire. Harry remembered his first clear memory of fire. It had been Dudley's birthday and there were flames flickering, fueled by candles. The flame flickers reminded Harry of a living thing and for some unknown reason; Harry was drawn to the energy of fire. Mrs. Figgs next door had a real fireplace and during Harry's visits, he found himself staring at the flames, while innumerable cats meowed around him.

A silver flame flared upwards, causing Harry to yelp. The flame was immediately extinguished and Harry listened at the door, hoping that none of the Dursleys heard. But after a brief moment of silence with adrenaline coursing through his body, Harry returned to his rags. He returned to his thoughts of fire and suddenly the cupboard was re-illuminated.

The flames started a centimeter above his palm and Harry could feel his goosebumps and shivers going away. He was also aware of energy of the fire and the energy that he was feeding it. He spent the next minutes varying that energy, causing the fire to grow or shrink at his whim. Finally he clenched his fist and the flames vanished.

He opened his palm again and visualized the silver flame in his mind. The flame returned and Harry spent the rest of his week in the cupboard, with the occasional bottle of water and scraps thrown in by his aunt, playing with fire.

* * *

Harry found himself sitting at a desk, his art teacher talking on and on about the assignment. Harry liked class time best, where Dudley couldn't beat him up. His teacher stopped talking, and Harry picked up a paintbrush on his table and turned his attention to the blank canvas on the easel to his right. Painting soothed him in a way almost nothing can.

After working on his painting for thirty minutes, Harry was startled by a gasp from his teacher. She was staring and gawping at the red bird of paradise in flight that he had painted. It was very rich in detail and the bird looked like it was going to lift off the material and fly away.

"That's very good... Harry,"

Harry nodded his thanks before she went away. She did not realize that the material makeup of the bird was blood, and that the beautiful and elegant tail of the bird dissolved into droplets of the life-giving substance.

* * *

It was summer again, and Harry found himself weeding in the garden out at the back of the house. Dudley had gone off to Piers Polkiss's house and his aunt and uncle had gone off somewhere. Harry was sweating and his pale skin was already blistered from similar days.

:_You need help?:_

Harry almost died of a heart attack. He took a deep breath and looked around.

There was nobody there.

:_Over here!_: Harry could hear the sound of amusement coming from his left. He turned around and a small black snake with a white underbelly slither up towards him.

:_You can talk?_: Harry almost bowled over in shock for the second time.

:_You speak the tongue of the snakes, my boy.: _The snake curled up next to Harry.

Harry looked curiously at the snake. :_But all I hear is the human tongue. What kind of snake are you?:_

:_I am a black mamba. One of the most feared species of snake to have existed in this world. I have travelled far to find you.:_

_:Find me?: _Harry was very confused. Why on earth would a snake travel to find him?

The snake gave Harry what he perceived was a surprised look.

_:I am your familiar. I can feel your magic call me continents away.:_

_:Magic? You are pulling my leg!:_

The snake hissed in a snort-like fashion but after realizing that the boy wasn't kidding, he continued. _:Magic exists everywhere. Very powerful wizards are capable of drawing out magical creatures to bond with. These creatures are known as familiars.:_

_:You are magical?:_

_:Yes. And you are?:_

Harry looked surprised at that question. The snake seemed to know everything. _:Harry Potter.:_

_:Zaliss: _The snake uncurled itself from the coil it made and extended his tail towards Harry. Harry shook it in bewilderment.

_:One more thing. The bonding ritual.: _Zaliss flicked his tongue out.

_:What?:_

_:I just need a bit of your blood.:_

_:Aren't you poisonous?:_

_:I won't use it.:_

Harry reluctantly offered his hand to Zaliss. The snake's beady but jewel-like dark eye gazed at the offered appendage and sank one of his fangs into Harry's flesh. Harry didn't flinch. The snake and boy spent the rest of the afternoon, pulling weeds.

* * *

It was July 31st and Harry found himself stuck in the old cupboard again. Earlier in the month, Harry seized an opportunity to clean out the old prison hole and his Aunt had thrown a few more hand-me-downs at Harry a week ago. He now possessed a warmer raggedy blanket, an old beaten up pillow and some of Dudley and Vernon's old shirts.

Zaliss, being a very young snake, was easy to hide and possessed the capability of squeezing himself through holes that one would perceive to be too small for him. Harry suspected that this was a magical skill that Zaliss possessed. Said snake was currently taking a snooze in the corner of the cupboard and Harry had nicked a large candle that the Dursleys keep in case of emergency blackouts. A cheery silver flame courtesy of his fire had been lit to give the room a warmer environment. Harry had persuaded Zaliss to not kill his relatives despite the maltreatment and Zaliss had half-heartedly agreed due to complications. Plus Harry knew that he would have to practice his magic a bit more before being able to live by himself.

It was his birthday today. He was seven. Harry sure didn't look seven though. He was thin and malnourished. He looked older than his age. His skin was tanned and rough from the summer of doing gardening chores but it was a lot easier with Zaliss around.

One of the floorboards of his cupboard was lose, and Harry used it to stash stuff that he didn't want found. So far, he had placed all his tests with A pluses in there and his art. Harry had learned the hard way that his aunt and uncle hated Harry getting better grades than their buffoon of a son and would deliberately do poorly as a method of self-preservation.

Harry had picked up another useful skill a few days ago. He was able to use his abilities to sense the energy around him and concentrate it to fill the lock of the cupboard. He pictured a hard metallic material in his mind and was able to open the door by using this temporary solid. He had developed the idea from his fire-play after spending many days manipulating the flames into various shapes. And it took a month of failed attempts before he could get it right.

Silver was the only colour of fire that he could manage though, despite his best attempts.

* * *

Harry found himself running again. Dudley and his gang were playing their favourite game of "Harry Hunting". Years of torment from Dudley had enabled Harry to develop endurance beyond his age but his history of malnourishment was catching up with him. Panting, and feeling the iron taste of blood at his throat, he sensed that the hunters were close behind him.

Before they could even throw a punch, Harry found himself up on the roof of a nearby building. He collapsed immediately in exhaustion.

Below him, a very puzzled gang of bullies searched high and low for him.

* * *

When Harry awoke hours later, it was pitch dark. He got up weakly and realized that he was on a sloped surface of some kind. It didn't take him long to realize that he was on the roof of a neighbour's house.

Remembering the events that led up to this predicament, Harry realized that he had somehow managed to teleport. He began to replicate his actions before his collapse in an attempt to get down but with no success. Harry was sure that if it was daytime, everyone would think he was a lunatic with all the spinning movements he was trying to do to get off the roof. A freak, Harry thought in his relatives' words.

He decided to stop and sit down on the roof. Today, the sky was so clear that one could see stars – a rare sight and Harry decided to relax a bit. It was also late enough that most of the lights in the neighbourhood were off.

He eventually got off the roof when he applied the same principles of conjuring fire and performing a simple spin. When he successfully got off the roof, he pictured his little cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys and spun. He shook off the queasy sensation and was greeted by Zaliss who didn't look too surprised by Harry's appearance.

Harry had learned how to Apparate consciously.

* * *

Harry soon found himself enjoying the merits of apparition as long as he managed to keep out of sight from his relatives and other people around him. He found himself visiting the local library very often, especially during the days where he was sentenced to the cupboard. He read voraciously and indiscriminately. He read books on artistic styles, politics, science and etcetera. He never bothered borrowing books because he didn't want anyone to recognize him and also, his uncle would probably burn them and he would have to pay for them.

He discovered that he could collect spare change from the streets by summoning money from hidden places in the streets. Summoning things was another skill that Harry had acquired sometime after his roof incident. He was careful to perform this bit of magic away from prying eyes. It was also nice not having to starve all the time.

He bought a hot dog from a vendor at the corner of the street and savoured it. This was followed by a quick trip to the local ice cream shop and an apparate back to his home-sweet-cupboard where Zaliss waited for him.

* * *

The cupboard was illuminated with three candles. A squat red one, a thin green one and a white one located in strategic places for optimal lighting. Harry had bought the candles using his newly acquired stash of money. Zaliss had gone out hunting for meat and Harry had pulled out a bag of crisps and a banana from his secret storage. Harry no longer ate the scraps that Petunia left for him every day since his scheme with summoning money was surprisingly profitable. It was amazing how much money was lost out on the streets. He had also managed to learn how to clean and dry money by magic since some of the money he summoned was not always in pristine condition. The latter was perfect for rainy and snowy days.

It was Christmas, which was why Harry had his three particular candles. It was in Harry's opinion, the best Christmas he has ever had up to date. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Dudley had gone off visiting Aunt Marge for two days and he had the house to himself. Of course, they had locked the cupboard before they left but thanks to Harry's newfound skills, he had taken a shower, made a rich English breakfast from groceries he had bought in anticipation for these two days. He was always careful to tidy things up so that they would have no suspicion when they came back.

He had spent the afternoon watching the telly, playing games on Dudley's new computer and sketching at the dining table. Zaliss took the advantage to explore the house, looking for new hidey-holes and nooks.

He returned to the cupboard at night to practice his skills with Zaliss as his lone audience member. Today, he practiced immersing his arms in the silver fire with care because slips in concentration could lead to burns. This was a discovery from a previous mishap. His goal was to see if he could immerse his whole body in flames without damage.

Of course, Harry and Zaliss were safely locked up in the cupboard two days later when his relatives came home, no more the wiser to Harry's activities.

* * *

Harry concentrated on the flow of energy fuelling the orb of flames in front of him. He had sculpted the flames in a perfect sphere and was testing his levels of endurance. He felt a constant stream of energy from both of his palms. Out of curiosity, Harry traced the energy radiating from his palms to his wrists, up his arms, to his shoulders and into some part deep within him. His orb of fire burst and vanished as he gasped. He had found a large reservoir of magical energy within him.

It seemed to be endless and expansive, this sea of energy within him. He wondered if there were other pathways that this energy could be channeled through, besides his hands. He took a deep breath and focused on the core of his magic and visualized it going downwards, to his thighs, through his legs and to his feet. The same silver flames flared from the tips of toes.

"Wow," Harry mused, "I can cast magic with my feet!"

* * *

_:Ah. Master Harry has grown much in magical strength.: _Zaliss observed as he was curled up beside the sink as Harry showed his familiar how he could wash the dishes without manual labour.

It had just occurred to Harry that he could use his cleaning magic on the dishes as well as the money he collected out on the streets. Of course, this luxury could only be employed when the Dursleys were out; in this case, out buying Dudley a new computer after a recent temper tantrum resulting in his old, or rather his month old computer being tossed out the window.

Of course, sustaining the cleaning magic was tiring since Harry had to use his energies to scrape the plates of food particles and to get the water and soap to rinse the plates. Halfway through process, Harry halted his magic and returned to washing by hand.

Harry did realize that his magic reserves were growing with frequent use.

* * *

Harry found himself reading books on concentration and meditation in the library after school. He had a feeling that meditation would go a long way in improving his skills. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon no longer bothered Harry too much ever since he came home every from school and immediately headed for his cupboard. He had overheard them talking a few days ago that the boy had finally learned his place as a freak. This comment would have irked Harry in his younger days, but the repeated beatings, insults and pain that he had endured had effectively stunted any emotion the younger Harry had felt.

Harry sometimes wondered what it would be like to feel emotion. Magic and art were the only two things that were able to elevate has spirits and make him feel alive. In fact, Harry had bought a beautiful silver knife a year ago and would at least once a month cut to see the crimson liquid flow. It was a reminder that he was alive.

As soon as he reached his cupboard, he visualized the alleyway next to the library and would apparate behind the dustbins which was the usual route he would take. He would do his homework and read until the library closed at six before apparating back. Usually, Petunia had finished making dinner by then and Harry would get leftovers and wash the dishes. Dinner was the only meal of the day that Petunia cooked. Harry was responsible for breakfast and lunch.

After the dishes, Harry went back to his cupboard, and lit his candles with a subtle flick of his index finger. Zaliss wasn't there, so Harry sat down, cross-legged, closed his eyes and meditated. He found himself focusing on his magic core and found himself exploring the reservoir. Suddenly he gasped when he felt a tinge of darkness at one edge of the core. Touching the dark thing polluting his core with his mind caused him to shiver uncontrollably and made him feel nauseous.

"What the bloody hell was that," Harry swore to himself, teeth still chattering, struggling not to vomit.


	2. II - The Scar

**The Inbetween ** - by Slytherin's Dragon

**Note: **I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**Chapter II - The Scar**

_:Master Harry! Master Harry!: _

Zaliss called out frantically at the unconscious boy lying on the wooden floorboards. The snake, having tripled in size since Harry had first met him, began licking his master's cheek in a dog-like fashion.

Harry groaned. His head hurt. Or more precisely, his scar was throbbing painfully. The last thing he remembered was screams and cackling laughter and a flash of blinding green light. He blinked. Gradually the pain in his head subsided and he felt the cool hard wood against his left cheek and something that felt suspiciously wet on his other. Cautiously, he moved to a sitting position.

Zaliss looked embarrassed at being caught doing such an undignified action.

_:What happened?:_ Harry rubbed his forehead with the side of his fist.

:I don't know! You were writhing all over the floor and suddenly you went down.:

_:I was meditating and then I began to play with the source of my magic. All was well until I felt something repulsive. Something hideous. A small fragment of something that almost made me vomit. And then I had this dream that I hadn't had in years.: _Harry explained. _:It was the worst nightmare. All I heard were screams with a pleading note and what people call fear. There was maniacal laughter and a flash of green light. Then silence.:_

Zaliss looked curiously at Harry. _:Green light! Silence afterwards...:_

Harry nodded. The snake paused, and Harry could see a sudden flash of understanding in the dark eyes.

_:There is only one curse to my knowledge that is green and renders silence at the end of its cast. Where I came from, there are only stories of dark wizards who use a curse like this. It's the Avada Kedavra. It's wha yout humans deem an unforgiveable. It is seldom used as it leaves a trademark characteristic in my birth continent of Africa.: _Zaliss slithered across the wooden boards, rather reminiscent to a human pacing back and forth.

_:What is this trademark?: _

_:Harry. Its trademark is that it leaves no trademark. In Africa, it is not a favoured dark curse. Dark ones and murderer, especially wizarding assassins prefer other curses like the coagulation curse that mimics the effect of a poisonous snake bite or even the clotting curse which erects a thrombus in the heart or anywhere in the body for a more non-suspicious death. The Killing curse, is only favoured by those who cause fear.: Zaliss explained. _

Harry scratched his head curiously, working his own brain cells hard to process the information that Zaliss had imparted. _:So, my dreams show that someone was murdered by the Avada Kedavra curse and it is probably casted by someone who was powerful enough to evade capture.:_

_:Do you know anyone who has died suspiciously?:_

_:No.: _Harry sighed.

_:Your parents, Harry. Where are they?:_

_:My aunt says they died in a car crash.:_

Zaliss made a sound that reflected his contempt for Harry's relatives. _:I bet they lie. They deny magic's existence even though their nephew has been wielding it under their very nose.:_

Harry frowned.

* * *

Candles with silver flames illuminated the darkness of the cupboard as Harry whizzed through his arithmetic homework. Harry liked math. There was something comforting about knowing that two plus two always equalled four. But of course, Harry was doing multiplication tables now. He had brought an empty but sturdy cardboard box into his "room", flipped it over and was using it as a table. He used magic to sharpen his pencils. The formation of a translucent silver "blade" conjured from Harry's magic worked wonders.

After his homework was done, Harry returned to the cross-legged position on the ground. Zaliss had gone for what he called an "evening slither". He knew that the snake wasn't going to be happy for what he planned to do, but he couldn't bare the idea of that dark tendril clinging on to his core. His core, in his mind's eye, was a reservoir of silver energy, the same shade of silver as the "blade" and flames he conjured.

Tentatively, he took a deep breath and starting mentally probing at the sea of energy. Cautiously, he manoeuvred his focus towards the black tendril. He observed it from afar. It was a strand of material that Harry would describe as silk-like and a shade that wasn't quite black, but the closest word to describe it was black. It seemed more gaseous in nature than solid.

But Harry knew that whatever it was; it was dark. And that it shouldn't be residing in his beautiful dam of magic. Suddenly, he had an inspiration.

He removed himself from his introspective state and rested for a moment. Meditation involving his magic always seemed to tire him out in some way contrary to the relaxing benefit it was supposed to offer according to that meditation book he read.

Taking a deep breath, Harry plunged back in.

* * *

Zaliss was indeed taking his "evening slither" and was out in the Dursleys' garden. He stayed close to the ground, his keen eyes and nose looking for victims. Suddenly, he struck. 5.4 metres per second wasn't something to scoff at. The mouse never saw Zaliss before it saw darkness.

Stomach full from the swallowed mouse, Zaliss continued his leisurely movements before he heard screams of agony.

* * *

Harry felt pain. Excruciating pain. Pain beyond anything that Uncle Vernon ever dealt to him. He was burning. Like a phoenix on its burning day.

A silvery one.

He felt like his body was going to be ripped apart and in some way, he found release like the way he would occasionally cut to find release.

Freedom.

He was going to die. He was sure of it. Each one of his neurons were screaming in pain.

But like the mystical Phoenix, they reborn from their ashes, and mercifully for Harry, it all went dark again.

* * *

_:Master Harry is a little foolish.: _Zaliss hissed to himself when he saw his Master in a crumbled heap on the ground after tasting the air to ensure Harry wasn't dead. Magical Black Mamba of Africa are capable of sensing death from the air.

After waiting faithfully by Harry's side for several hours, the "foolish" boy stirred. By this time, Zaliss could hear the voice of the Dursleys returning home from some so-called important event hosted by Vernon's boss or something along those lines.

Harry felt pain coursing through his battered body but mercifully, there were no disturbing dreams of green flashes and screaming madmen. Curiously, despite his mental exhaustion, he launched his mental probe back into his magical core. The pristine silver magic was all there, and much to Harry's relief, the hideous black tendril was gone.

He double checked and triple checked his core before releasing a soothing burst of magic throughout the rest of his body. The pain gradually dissipated. He was himself. He slowly got up from the pitiful fetal position and noticed Zaliss looking from the shadows.

_:Your scar. It's gone!" _The snake exclaimed in shock.

Harry was dumbstruck. The scar had been with him ever since... Well ever since forever basically. Slowly, he moved his hand towards his forehead and gently touched the flesh. It was smooth.

_:What did you do, my crazy and insane Master? You almost died! I felt your magic temporarily deplete!:_ Zaliss's shock was clearly gone, and furious hissing.

_:Shhhhhh. My relatives remember!: _Harry winced as he heard Uncle Vernon bellow from the living to be quiet.

_:So, what did you do?: _

_:I repeated what I did yesterday, except, I didn't touch it. After observing it for a while, I wondered if one could actually use magic from within. I carefully wrapped the piece of darkness with fine strands from my own core – you know that magic can be melded into almost anything as long as one has the will.:_

_:Then what happened?: Zaliss was growing calmer._

_:I turned the wrappings into fire. The hottest flames I could visualize. It burned. And it screamed bloody murder.: _Harry explained.

Zaliss was back to furious, but caring snake mode. _:You burned yourself! Master Harry!:_

_:Relax, Zaliss, there no burns anywhere.: _Harry tried to pacify the snake who merely looked at the direction of Harry's right arm.

_ :Oops.: _Harry noticed his burned arm.

Zaliss shook his head before magically squeezing through the cracks of the cupboard door.

* * *

Harry's life became surprisingly uneventful after the destruction of the silky black substance formerly adherent to his core. Zaliss had forgiven him after his dramatic slither-out the day when the exorcism of the dark thing that didn't belong took place. _What a drama queen._ Harry thought. He went to school, the library and avoided the Dursleys whenever possible. He did the chores, still got chased around by Dudley and his gang but did his best to use his instincts to stay out of trouble.

He did his best to learn as much as he could. Non-magical biology was a current subject of interest to Harry. Zaliss and Harry had discussed the best non-magical toxins that the world had to offer. Zaliss knew all about interesting magics of Africa and explained the biology behind several nasty curses. Harry was surprised that magic and science was able to combine together.

Harry practiced magic whenever he could. He practiced his apparition techniques. With help from Zaliss, Harry found himself able to apparate without a sound and with much difficulty, eliminate the tell-tale turn of apparition. Most of the practice took place in the cupboard.

He conjured his fires and discovered that he was capable of making intense blue flames. He practiced shaping the fire, maintaining the fire and lighting fire from afar before snuffing it out. He manipulated small objects like pencils by lifting them and tossing them. After mastering this, Harry made targets and played darts. The next step after that would be to form silver "blade" that he used for pencil sharpening and use them as darts to practice sustaining this magic from long distances.

However, today, Harry decided to try something new. He concentrated on the central magic reservoir and pushed the magic towards his heels. He felt himself being pushed into the air before ungracefully crashing back down on the ground. A familiar laugh was heard and a bruised Harry turned around to see Zaliss doing the "roll on the floor laughing:" as well as one metre long snake could.

_:Think it's funny?: _Harry did his best to look hurt.

Zaliss took awhile to control himself before turning around to look at his Master.

_:Levitation. You are an ambitious one. Many wizards and witches have dreamed of doing such a thing but failed.:_

_:Some encouragement you are.:_

_:It's much easier to levitate another person rather than yourself. I suggest that you should find some way to support the rest of your body besides your feet. Physics, master.:_

Harry sighed.

* * *

Harry found himself a new release at school. At the end of a music class, Harry found himself compelled to sit at the old upright piano that sat at the corner of the room. His teacher had just left the room. Harry looked at the white and black keys, which seemed to call to him. He tentatively placed his finger on a key and slowly pressed it down. This was middle C, as Harry had learned from prior music classes at school. He experimentally played a C major scale, his fingers knowing instinctively where to go.

Each note seemed to code for a colour in Harry's mind. He knew how sound worked, the different frequencies of longitudinal waves created by the strike of a hammer under the wooden shell of the instrument.

Suddenly, Harry began to improvise. It started off with a single dark and sorrowful melody – although the feelings were mere shadows of true emotion before turning into a complex vortex of darker harmonies. He switched to a lighter waltz like melody, but only those who knew what they were looking for could hear the more sinister undertones.

Harry played for hours, disregarding the bewildered and flabbergasted expression of his teacher who had been mesmerized by the impulsive savant playing of his young pupil.

* * *

Another year came and went, and it was Harry's ninth birthday, not that it mattered much to the inhabitants of 4 Privet Drive. Harry and Zaliss spent the evening discussing their future.

_:You should leave your relatives and go out and find your destiny, Master Harry, like I did.: _Zaliss offered his suggestion.

_:But where? I've got nothing!: _Harry exclaimed. _:And what was your destiny?:_

_:To be your familiar. It was a long and hard journey. You've got money; I've seen your stash. As for where, ask your aunt. You've got bargaining chips and undetectable power. It's time you got your dues.:_

Harry sat cross-legged on the floor. He knew he had to leave Privet Drive. There was nothing for him here. _:We need a plan.:_

_:This is what you should...:_

The two began to hammer out the details of their escape plan.

* * *

Every now and again, Harry would visit after school to the music room when there were no students around. During his apparition trips, Harry had acquired a few scores and had asked his teacher to teach him how to read.

He found Bach to have a similar effect on his meditation skills and playing his music always helped Harry organize his mind. His favourite was the rather dark g minor prelude and fugue from his second _Well-Tempered Clavier_.

Like his reading in the library, Harry explored music, learning and appreciating the different styles of different composers. He incorporated themes and styles into his improvisations, allowing only his teacher to be the lone audience member.

Harry's teacher had once told him that his music was very temperamental and emotional. _Oh how little he knows. _Harry mused. _It's all a facade._

* * *

"Aunt Petunia," Harry called his aunt, "I wish to ask you a question."

A vein in Harry's Uncle Vernon throbbed. "What is it, boy?"

"Where is the magical communi – "

Uncle Vernon's face took on a flattering shade of purple. Dudley was glaring at Harry and Aunt Petunia had a fearful expression on her face.

"There is no magic. MAGIC DOES NOT EXIST!"

Harry's face remained passive. "Then what is this, my dear Uncle." A vicious silver flame shot up from Harry's palm.

Dudley, who had been gearing up to do the old "beat-up-Harry" routine suddenly lost his confident facade and ran behind his mother. Harry found it oddly amusing that Dudley's fat rolls stuck out from both sides of his thin mother.

"You freak! Now you've gone and done it! We were going to squash that perversion of nature that you freaks call magic!" Vernon's face was turning into the shade after purple.

Harry wondered idly if his uncle was going to die of a heart attack anytime soon. The blood pressure reading would be through the roof.

"And what happened to my mother? She did not die in a car crash. It's all lies. She was a witch." Harry's voice was acid.

Aunt Petunia couldn't control it any longer, "Of course I knew. My perfect sister being who she was. My mother and father were so proud the day she got her letter. "We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful?" I was the only one to see her for what she was... a freak! And then she met that Potter. And then she had you, and I knew you would be the same. Just as strange, just as... abnormal. And then if you please, she went and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you." *

Harry noted the bitterness that his aunt's tirade contained.

"Now you, you FREAK! Get back into that cupboard where you belong!" Uncle Vernon growled, "You are never coming out. EVER! We've been too lenient with you – "

Harry's flame rose higher. "Answer my first question or I will burn you all!" Harry lashed the flame whip-like towards his Uncle who immediately deflated. _God, that man has no sense of self-preservation._

Aunt Petunia was in hysterics. "They will lock you up in that prison. You can't do magic – "

Aunt Petunia suddenly stopped. She looked petrified. Uncle Vernon's expression suddenly turned ashen and Dudley was trying to blend in with the couch behind Petunia. Harry knew why.

Zaliss came slithering in as if he owned the place. The snake had grown a lot during the years he had spent with his Master. Zaliss had been able to wander the house with more freedom than Harry had in the past years as he possessed the magic of invisibility and camouflage.

He bared his poison fangs in a fearsome grin.

Uncle Vernon joined Dudley behind the couch. Never had Harry seen his Uncle move at such speed.

Aunt Petunia took one look at the snake and one look at the rest of her cowering family before ripping a piece of paper off her neatly kept phonebook. She scribbled an address down.

"This is the address of the Leaky Cauldron. The entrance is in the backyard. Go and do not return." Aunt Petunia had mustered the rest of her courage.

Harry took the slip of paper from his aunt's hand and nodded. With a slight gesture of his fingers, Zaliss slithered behind Harry and Harry knew that he would never return to the place that may have failed to squash the magic out of him, but left him emotionally dead.

* * *

A/N - * A slightly modified quote from _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_

The Horcrux destroyed and Harry and Zaliss have made their escape.

I wonder what is next. Don't forget to review!


	3. III - The Heir of Slytherin

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Thanks for all the encouragement guys. Diagon Alley, here we come!

I don't own Harry Potter. Unfortunately.

**Chapter III - The Heir of Slytherin**

Harry and Zaliss took their time before leaving the Dursleys' house. Their first stop was the washroom, where Harry would alter his appearance. Both snake and boy agreed that it was best if no one knew who they were.

Concentrating on his magical core, Harry removed the innate magic within him that had kept his hair in the same messy state for all his life. He closed his eyes and visualized his dark hair growing longer, the keratin strands reaching past his shoulders. Harry parted his hair towards the right side and for fun, turned the strands of hair closest to his forehead silver, the same shade as the magic thrumming within him.

He took off his hand-me-down clothes and dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a charcoal grey dress shirt. It was nice to be finally in clothes that were bought for him. Harry had gone shopping for a new wardrobe the week before in anticipation of this date.

After this was done, Harry and his familiar went back to the cupboard they had called home for the past years. He packed everything from his floorboard storage into a small black trunk that had wheels and a handle that could be pulled. His art, his music scores, books and other items were packed in tightly along with other clothes that Harry had bought the week before.

Finally, Harry gathered all the rags and hand-me-downs and placed them in a pile. With Zaliss looking on, Harry pointed his index finger. A stream of blue and silver fire ignited the remnants of Harry's former life and with this bonfire, he felt freer.

* * *

They had taken the bus to London, as Harry wasn't familiar with the city to Apparate. Zaliss had became being invisible to non-magical beings, after switching it off to give his Master's relatives the ultimate scare.

For lunch, Harry went to a Fish & Chips shop, while Zaliss hunted for the vermin outside the shop. It was until late afternoon when Harry reached the Leaky Cauldron.

He wasn't too impressed with what he saw.

It was dark and dingy, and people with robes and cloaks were gathered, talking quietly while others were sitting on couches, reading books and sipping something that Harry recognized as alcoholic beverages. No one seemed to care about the dark snake that followed the newcomer in.

"Ah, how may I help you?" A toothless old man came up to Harry.

Harry thought for a moment. "Do you have a place that I can stay at?"

"Ah, a room here is a galleon and a sickle per night." Sensing Harry's confusion he continued, "Or forty pounds. We take both wizarding and muggle money."

Harry dumped a week's worth of money on Tom's palm. He inferred that muggle referred to non-magical people like his aunt and uncle.

"So, who do I have the pleasure of serving?"

"Harry Grey,"

"You can call me Tom,"

The two shook hands.

* * *

_:Tom is trustworthy.: _Zaliss hissed when the pair reached the room. _:However, when we go out into the magical world, do not attempt to talk to me.:_

_:Why not?: _Harry asked curiously as he rummaged through the contents of his trunk.

Zaliss hissed. _:Snake tongue, my dear Master, is considered Dark Magic in this world. You will attract unwanted attention.:_

Harry sighed. _:I supposed we can only talk here.:_

Zaliss nodded.

_:I don't have any wizarding money, Zaliss. How am I supposed to meet ends meet?: _Harry sighed.

Zaliss reflected for a moment, his tail curling to reach his head, similar to a person stroking their cheek in deep thought. _:Your parents may have left you an inheritance. We could go check the bank. From what I've heard, it's run by Goblins who mind their own business.:_

_:It's a good idea. It can't hurt, right?:_

Harry and his snake left the room and locked the door.

* * *

They found themselves in the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was surprised that the only things there were dustbins and a brick wall. He sensed magic in the bricks. The magic was calling him. Using his right index finger, he tapped the bricks on instinct. He had no idea why he selected the bricks in the order that he did.

Suddenly the brick wall opened up, and Harry and Zaliss found themselves in Diagon Alley. People dressed in the strange cloaks and robes flocked the streets, but Harry could also see people dressed muggle-like amongst them.

They walked to Gringotts, the Goblin Bank, which was an impressive building of white marble and pillars. The interior of the bank was in the same brilliant white marble. It reminded Harry of a muggle bank as Goblin tellers were situated behind a counter.

"I am Griphook. How may I help you?"

"I wish to access my money. I am Harry Potter." Harry replied. Zaliss had curled up around Harry's body, giving the boy confidence.

"Key?"

"I don't have one." Harry sighed.

"Wand?"

Harry shook his head.

"Okay then, we will have to do the blood test. Hooktail!"

Griphook turned around to call another goblin over. Harry and Zaliss soon found themselves being led past the counters of goblins assisting wizards and witches and into another room. It was empty, except that it was brilliantly lit with chandeliers containing white candles above. A large mahogany desk and velvet chairs were the only furniture. Harry and his snake were asked to sit on in front of the desk. Hooktail removed a blank piece of parchment and placed it on the table. Griphook retrieved a silver goblin-wrought blade.

Harry offered them his hand and Griphook nicked it. The precious droplets of blood dripped onto the parchment, where web-like lines extended throughout the surface of the blank surface. He quickly realized that it was a family tree that was branching out.

He saw his name connected to James Potter and Lily Evans. Other family surnames he saw included the Perevells, the Evans, the Longbottoms and there were many more. The goblins explained to Harry that offspring born to wizarding folk that were non magical and were deemed squibs. They were marked with an asterisk. He noted that Aunt Petunia had an asterisk beside her name, as did his grandparents and those that came before them. He traced the lineage further and magical relatives from his mother's side of the family started to appear, all the way to Salazar Slytherin. The goblins had explained that the blood magic here only records relations for the past millennium. Hooktail also explained that almost all Muggleborn witches and wizards were usually descended from ancient wizarding families that have produced squibs throughout the ages which was a fact that Harry found most profound when Harry expressed his shock that the Evans family were descended from wizarding families.

Finally, the spidery lines stopped, as the millennium's worth of generations have finished being inscribed on the parchment. The words _Heir to the Most Courageous and Most Noble House of Potter_ occurred in elegant handwriting at the bottom of the parchment.

The two goblins talked rapidly with each other, using a coarse language that neither Harry nor Zaliss were able to understand before Griphook folded up the parchment and handed it to Harry.

"No one but you can read the contents of the parchment, unless you will it to show itself." Griphook explained, "Usually the old wizarding families have tapestries based on the blood parchments received here."

Hooktail produced a silvery key. "This is the key to your vault, Mr. Potter."

Harry took the offered key. Griphook began to speak, "You are the heir of an old and powerful wizarding family, the Potters. You will inherit your father's title when you come of age at seventeen, and you will hold a seat at the Wizengamot, where decisions of the government are made. The whole contents of the Potter Estate will be made to you then. Your parents have left you a vault for Hogwarts, which you may access at any time. In addition, you are entitled to draw a sum of two thousand Galleons semi-annually from the main vault until you are of age."

Harry was flabbergasted. His mind was doing the conversion from Galleons to pounds from the rate that Tom had offered him earlier. That was around eighty thousand pounds per six months. His jaw dropped.

"But there is more. You are entitled to withdraw all the money that was due to you since your parents' passing. So, twenty-eight thousand Galleons will be handed over from the main vault to yours, with two thousand Galleons to be added every six months." Griphook added.

Harry felt his mind almost blow up from unimaginable wealth.

He felt Zaliss nudge his shoulder, and he knew what question he needed to ask.

"Who else has keys to my vault?"

Hooktail sighed. He pulled out another piece of parchment and tapped it with his fingers. "Albus Dumbledore holds the other key."

Harry frowned. "Who is Dumbledore?"

Griphook made a face. "The Headmaster of Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Is there any way to cut him out?"

Hooktail nodded. "Yes. You are the last descendent and heir to the Potters. You word will override any claim the Headmaster will have over your money despite your underage status. In our world, the last living descendent who is underage will be granted certain privileges that others receive when they are seventeen."

Griphook pushed another piece of parchment towards Harry. This one was black in colour. Hooktail provided a quill that was dripping in silver ink. Griphook looked gleeful in a malicious way.

"Write _I hereby declare all other keys belonging to other persons except I, Harry James Potter, to be null and void_."

Harry carefully copied Hooktail's statement. He had never used a quill to write before. It was odd and the silver ink seemed to be oozing with magic of some sort. The parchment dissolved when he finished.

"Has any of the money in the vaults been touched since my parents' death?"

Hooktail consulted the parchment from before again. "Yes. Five thousand Galleons per year have been removed by one Albus Dumbledore for the funding of the Order of the Phoenix."

"Of course, all funding is now hereby cut off." Griphook added.

* * *

One wild ride down to the depths of Gringotts later and back, Harry was holding a black leather pouch of golden Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts. He had been awestruck when the vaults were opened and they had been teeming with money, precious jewels and interesting artifacts. He couldn't believe that all that wealth would be his in eight years time.

_Truly from rags to riches_, Harry mused.

He wasn't too happy that this Dumbledore character had been removing so much money from his vault over the years, but at least he had stopped it now. Harry decided to explore Diagon Alley, now that he had the means to purchase whatever he liked now. He went into a wizarding clothing store where he measured by magical rulers. He purchased robes, cloaks, dragon-hide gloves and boots and splurged on a set of dress robes.

He realized that all wizards and witches casted magic with wands, and he had the odd feeling that his wandless skills ought to be kept a secret. It didn't take him long to find a tree branch that wand shaped, and he used his energy to sand it so that it was smooth. He thrust the stick in his belt and walked on.

He walked into Flourish and Blotts and examined the shelves. Zaliss had given up his spot around Harry's neck and slithered beside him. He noticed that there were several witches and wizards that gave him a wide berth, which is what he wanted. They seemed to fear the snake.

After selecting several books, Zaliss and Harry walked over to the quill and parchment shop, where Harry bought himself a fine black raven quill with a white jagged stripe running through the center and some rolls of parchment.

They returned to the Leaky Cauldron, and had dinner of the daily special before retiring to their room.

* * *

Harry spent his days reading from the books he acquired from Flourish and Blotts. He started off with some books about Wizarding society with Zaliss offering his insights about Wizarding culture. He read up on the ancient magical families, especially interested in his ancestors. He snorted when he found out that Salazar Slytherin was all for blood purity, but the irony was that his descendents had ended up mostly as squibs. He discovered that his parseltongue abilities had been passed on by Slytherin. The powerful Perevells had died off, but when they were around, they had been rumored to create the Deathly Hallows; the Deathstick, the Cloak of Invisibility and the Ring of Resurrection. The Longbottoms were a prestigious family that was still around, and Harry had noted that they had a son his age.

Books on Transfiguration, Charms, Dark Arts, and the Light Arts were devoured by Harry. For fun, he would recreate the spells, curses, jinxes, hexes and transfigurations without a wand. This training strengthened his magical reserves in ways that his old training in the cupboard couldn't do. He discovered that with his visualizing abilities, Transfiguration came naturally to him, but it was difficult to keep transfigurations to last for a long time. In fact, Harry realized that things that required him to sustain magic for long periods of time were the most difficult, and wanted to know why. Unfortunately for him, there was little available in on the literature of deliberate wandless magic. This shortage made him strengthen his resolve to keep his abilities hidden. _Who knows, it could save my life one day._

* * *

One day, while reading the _Daily Prophet_, the daily Wizarding Newspaper, Harry almost dropped his fork down at the Leaky Cauldron when he saw a column being dedicated to the Boy-Who-Lived. He realized that it was a column about him and that it was full of speculations on where he was, and false information. He cautiously glanced around, but no one seemed to care, so he returned to his breakfast and ate it quickly.

He spent the rest of the week doing research on the Boy-Who-Lived. He discovered that it was Albus Dumbledore who had moved him from the ruined house at Godric's Hollow to a place that no one else in the Wizarding world and that he had somehow deflected the Killing Curse when it was cast upon him, and caused the self-proclaimed Lord Voldemort to vanish.

Harry had an odd feeling that the destroyed dark taint in his core had something to do with whatever had happened that night.

It also brought his thoughts back onto the Dumbledore character. _Did he know that my mother's relatives hated anything associated with magic beyond reason? Was it a deliberate move?_ But after reading upon Dumbledore's own history, Harry deduced that it was a deliberate one. Dumbledore was the so called Leader of the Light, but there seemed to be things in the histories that hinted at a darker picture. _I wouldn't trust him._

_:You are right. I wouldn't trust this Dumbledore person either.:_ Zaliss offered at the end of the week, when Harry was surrounded by old newspapers with moving pictures and so-called real accounts of what happened to the Boy-Who-Lived.

* * *

Harry and Zaliss was taking a stroll down the questionable Knockturn Alley when they were stopped by an unusual character. Harry sensed powerful magic radiating from the man in who had stopped in front of him, and there was an unearthly quality that he exuded in his aura. Physically, he was a tall man, with what Harry could discern was an Asian face. He wore black robes that were edged with a bloody crimson red with strange runes at the edges of the sleeves and bottom of the robes. His dark hair was tied up with some oriental ornament. His eyes were a dark gray so black that the pupils were hard to discern.

"You are an interesting man, Mr. Grey." A deep voice with a thick Russian accent boomed.

Harry looked at the man in confusion, as did Zaliss.

"Curious, curious. You hold a stick with no magic; keep a Black Mamba as a familiar; stroll down Knockturn Alley with no fear and you exude power beyond what anyone your age could ever dream of having, Mr. Grey."

Harry was well-aware that his jaw had hit the ground. Zaliss hissed.

"It's not safe to talk here. Follow me."

The Russian, or was it Asian man turned around, his robes billowed around him, despite the lack of wind and started walking forward, deeper into Knockturn Alley.

Harry shrugged at Zaliss, and both followed.

* * *

They found themselves sitting at a simple wooden table made with some black wood that Harry was unfamiliar with. The man had poured tea from an oriental china teapot into quaint little tea cups with a matching pattern and pushed one of them towards Harry.

"My name is Ivan. Underneath this floor, I run a wand shop. I am a wandmaker who has travelled all around the world to learn and collect materials for the best wands. I sensed that you needed a wand when I saw you, Mr. Potter."

"How did you – "

"I know almost everything in this world. If you wish to conceal your identity, I recommend the art of Occlumency. It is the art of shielding the mind from those proficient with Legilimency which is what muggles refer to crudely as mind-reading. But first, drink your tea."

Harry picked up his cup and sipped the brown liquid. It was bitter and exotic.

* * *

"Try this one, dragon heartstring and hawthorn, 11 inches and a fifth."

Harry picked up the wand and gave it a wave. A huge shower of sparks occurred and he almost felt the wand fall apart. Ivan immediately snatched it from his hand. The man sighed and placed the wand back in the wooden box, along with the tens of wands that he had been trying for the past hours. Ivan looked deep in thought.

"Phoenix feather and holly, 11 inches."

Harry picked up the next offered wand. He waved it and red and gold sparks were released. He frowned. The core was compatible but it wasn't quite right. He shook his head and gave it back. Ivan sighed in frustration which was the first vestige of emotion that Harry had detected from this mysterious stranger.

"The problem, Harry, is that your core contains more power than most wizards and witches' wands can handle. And those that I've given you that can handle your magic aren't compatible. Ha! I've got it!"

The man walked towards the back of the shop and came back with a black box that was covered in dust. He reverently opened it and a black wand with a silver handle covered in runes of some sort. "This is a very special wand, made by a fabled wandmaker who had no name. No one has ever claimed since the millennia that it was forged. Even I do not know what the wood is, although my best guess would be some relative of the Ebony family. The core is unusual. The phoenix feather of a silver phoenix entangled with the heartstring of a dragon, the now extinct Russian Razorfangs, who were capable of living in the Arctic. Hunted to extinction by Wizards seeking fame and fortune. Thirteen inches. A potent number by Wizarding standards. A wand of Ice and Fire."

Harry gripped the silver handle. The core of the wand seemed to connect to the core in his body in a way that none of the wands could. He gave it a wave, and the intense silver fires that he could conjure without a wand shot out from the tip. The flames turned into a dragon that roared before vanishing without a trace.

"Alas, that is your wand." Ivan looked satisfied.

* * *

Harry spent the next few months learning how to use a wand, in addition to the wandless magic. He didn't bother with incantations and modified the spells to keep the wand movements to a minimum which led to frustrations and complications but he knew it was for the best. He wanted to be ready in case he ever met Dumbledore or Voldemort at wandpoint.

Under Ivan's tutelage, Harry mastered the dual arts of Occlumency and Legilimency, since they went hand in hand. Harry's previous meditation practices made his acquisition of these arts a lot easier. To fortify his defences, Harry thought about abstract methods to confuse people, such as the Penrose staircases and other illusions.

He bought a flat in Diagon Alley under the name Harry Grey since he figured that he couldn't live above the Leaky Cauldron forever and furnished it with beautiful wood furniture and neutral colours. He indulged himself by spending an enormous chunk of his semi-annual income on a used Steinway that possessed the precise tone and colour that Harry had in mind. He bought expensive art supplies and spent many hours painting, either in his flat or outside.

He had started to build his own library. It helped that he lived close to Flourish and Blotts and he was a regular customer, and well-known by the owner. He set aside a room for practicing magic as well as a room for his new potions brewing hobby.

And the best thing was that no one suspected that he was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who Lived. He had a feeling that it was because his fabled curse scar had vanished.

Zaliss was flourishing as well. He had grown bigger and Harry had found an enormous rock and placed it on the balcony of his flat so Zaliss could sunbathe on it.

But today, Harry was feeling slightly apprehensive. Ivan was going to give him the final test of Occlumency and Legilimency. He found it to be an odd sensation, but he had a feeling that it would be one of the most difficult tests of his life.

He made breakfast with the food that he had shopped for in Muggle London. _It was cheaper to buy food there._ He ate slowly; delaying the time that he would reach Ivan's little wand shop in Knockturn Alley.

He hoped that he would pass.

* * *

A/N: Oooh! Dumbles has had a major chunk of his funding cut off. That's gotta hurt. Damn.

I think some other characters are going to start showing up, so keep your eyes peeled.

Review? :3


	4. IV - Occlumency

**The Inbetween** – By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **You know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter or any other familiar faces you see on this page.

**A legend: **

"Normal quotation."

_:. Parseltongue.:_

_Italics are thoughts of the characters._

_;.. Communication between minds..;_

**Chapter IV - Occlumency**

Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, a highly esteemed School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in an unforeseen quandary. He stroked his beard soothingly and helped himself to a lemon drop. The funding for the running of the Order of the Phoenix, his minions, was running low. Sure he had money coming in every year from the Black, Longbottom and his own Dumbledore vaults but the majority of the money had come from the Potter vault. The Potters were rich enough to give traditionally dark families such as the Malfoys a run for their money.

Dumbledore fingered the golden key that had formerly given him access to the Potter vault. He had arranged that a payment of five thousand Galleons would be transferred each year at in the beginning of December towards the special vault that he had set up for the Order of the Phoenix. The befuddling thing was that the money hadn't been added this year, and it was already almost January.

With much annoyance, he had made a special trip down to Gringotts to see what the hold-up was, only to find that the key that the late James Potter had provided him was no longer valid. The goblins of course, refused to tell him why and any attempts of Legilimency on goblins were simply not possible due to their magical makeup, enchantments and a treaty that was signed between goblins and wizards many centuries ago.

_Merlin, how he hated the goblins._

Of course, this led him to think of Harry Potter. _He would be nine now. Almost time to put the next stages of his innumerable plans in motion._ His eyes had regained their twinkle as his mind whirled through the elaborate and twisted plans that he had made up almost a decade ago.

Dumbledore, being the great wizard he was, didn't even bother checking where the young Potter was.

* * *

The young Potter was sitting cross-legged on a colourful woven mat in front of Ivan's fireplace. He faced the wall and was focussing on his Occlumency shields. Ivan, his long hair tied up in a simple ponytail with a crimson silk tie sat likewise, facing his young student.

They sat there for what felt like to Harry, forever, doing nothing.

Suddenly, Harry felt a mind probe as thin as the most delicate of surgical needles penetrate his barriers. He allowed the intrusion into his mind by his mentor. If he could hold on for ten minutes before Ivan reached his thoughts and memories, he would pass the Occlumency section.

* * *

Ivan found himself in free fall, the force causing his long hair and his robes to flap wildly. He saw that he was falling through blue sky, passing innumerable clouds and flying birds along the way. But the interesting property of the mindscape was that as he reached the "bottom", Ivan felt a deceleration and that the ground was a layer of clouds. _Clever boy. Most Legilimency users would have vacated the mind in fear._ But experience was on Ivan's side. He gently fell on the clouds, which to his horror was actually as hard as they looked soft.

Groaning, he got up, and he knew that an enormous bruise would grace his cheek for the next little while. He looked for telltale signs that would lead him closer to Harry's thoughts. Suddenly, he felt the surface of the hard clouds warp into Terrace illusion ladders and ropes, and to make his life even more complicated, Penrose staircases, all made out of the same hard cloud material. _A nine year boy made this? Oh.. Great Merlin's Beard. _

He must have sat there for what felt like an hour, pondering which was the correct staircase or ladder or rope that would take him to the next phase. All of them seemed to lead nowhere.

Ivan tried climbing one of the staircases to see if there was another trick. He just found himself going around in circles.

Meanwhile, Harry, who was keeping track of where his mentor was in his mind, was debating when he should attempt to throw Ivan out of his mind. The ten minutes was up according to the timer charm that Ivan had set up on a ten-minute hourglass. The trick with the penrose staircases and terrace illusions was that the solution was down, not up. The illusions were meant to overwhelm and confuse. The real exit was to find the right patch of cloud that had the consistency of real cloud.

Harry was amused when Ivan accidentally walked on the right patch of cloud and fell through. When he fell into the swamp underneath, and emerged coughing and spluttering, Harry tossed him out of his mind, figuring that he had seen enough to assess the quality of his mindscapes. _Oh yeah, he definitely passed._

* * *

Harry and Ivan lazily cast spells at each other. Different colours of light flashed through the air. All of them were non-verbal and Harry chose to duck and apparate to avoid the spells, while Ivan made shield after shield. Suddenly Harry felt a strange prickling sensation in his head. Recognizing that it was a probe attempt, Harry mentally grabbed the probe and tossed it back out, following it with his own probe. He found himself in a rose garden, containing vibrant roses of all sorts of colours. Harry knew that a common Occlumency technique was to hide memories in each flower, or touching a particular flower would lead to the next mindscape. However, judging by Ivan's expertise and skill, he highly doubted that he would resort to an amateur trick.

So instead, he pulled a blade of grass from under his feet and found himself with the queasy feeling of having apparated. He found himself under a vast ocean. The liquid itself was devoid of life, but Harry turned his attention to the vibrant seafloor. Coral reefs, sea anemones and other seaweeds covered the floor. He swam close to the floor and he noticed that there were starfish on the ground. All of them were orange, except for one red one. Harry reached for that and felt himself falling.

He gasped at what happened next. He was falling towards a swirling black hole. It was massive, and it sucked up planets, stars and all other debris. It was incredibly lifelike, and Harry could feel the wind in his hair and robes. He was almost tempted to abort his Legilimency attempt but he knew he couldn't fail. He went straight through the swirling immaterial substance of the space phenomenon and landed in a cave with a loud thud. Now Harry was conscious of someone trying to boot him out of the mindscape. He took a deep breath and pushed forward, the yanking force was more intense with each step he took. Stalactites and stalagmites surrounded him. Suddenly, he felt a rumble of the ground he was standing at, and his fast reflexes helped him avoid a stalactite that had fallen right above him. A quiet second later, a storm of stalactites began to rain down on him.

Harry made a run for it. He felt the force pushing him grow twofold with every metre he covered, the loud rumble of the stalactites falling behind him rendering the environment too loud to think. He was careful to avoid the treacherous stalagmites that protruded from the grounds of the cave. After all, the goal of mindscapes was to incapacitate the intruder by confusing, distorting, injuring or any other variation to make it easier to throw the offender out.

At the end, Harry saw an enormous nest of large eggs, each the size of a watermelon. But that was all he managed to see before he felt himself being wrenched from Ivan's mind and back into reality.

* * *

Harry and Zaliss walked along the streets of Knockturn Alley, towards the Leaky Cauldron in anticipation of lunch. Ivan had praised Harry regarding how far he had gotten through Ivan's Occlumency illusions with ease, and that what he saw in Harry's mindscape had provided some fodder for future fortifications of his own barriers.

It was a winter's day in Diagon Alley. It was almost picture perfect, the gentle flurries falling from the clouds above and the village was decorated in the festive Christmas decorations, despite it being early January. Harry was wearing a plain muggle hooded sweater, a pair of jeans, and a warm black cloak which was charmed to keep the cold out. A Slytherin green scarf was wrapped around his neck, and his dragonhide gloves and boots provided coverage for his extremities against the cold.

Despite the cold climate, Zaliss seemed unfazed by the cold weather and happily slithered around in the snow. He later explained that it was magic that allowed him to survive in places that the non-magical fraction of his kind could not.

The warmth of the Leaky Cauldron enveloped them both when they stepped in. They were immediately directed to a table and Harry had a bottle of butter beer and a plate of lasagna and grilled vegetables – the daily lunch special. He was enjoying his meal with Zaliss's company when he felt that someone was watching him.

It was an odd sensation.

Rather than looking up, Harry swept the Leaky Cauldron with a wash of magic – similar to echolocation in bats and dolphins and saw the surroundings in his mind. A greasy haired, hook-nosed and pale faced man was directing subtle glances at Harry and his familiar while pretending to be engrossed in what Harry recognized as a Potions journal, _Ars Alchemia_. A bottle of firewhiskey was beside his right hand. He wore plain black robes and his cloak was draped over the chair he occupied.

_Does he understand the concept of shampoo?_ Harry mused while taking another bite of his lasagna.

Suddenly, both their eyes came into contact with one another, and Harry felt a light probe batter at his mental defences. Harry scowled and sent the probe back with more power than he had intended which crashed through the barriers in the man's mind. He saw the look of horror and shock on the sallow man's face, whose identity that he had discerned to be Severus Snape, former Death Eater and Potions Master of Hogwarts from the newly accessed thoughts. He caught glimpses of a red-headed girl with green eyes similar to his own, and images of humiliations inflicted by four young men, including an image of the unpleasant looking man hanging in the most undignified fashion, his underwear showing. There was a lake nearby and the jeers of his peers. He saw flashes of Lord Voldemort and innumerable Cruciatus curses that the man was forced to endure.

And then, clearly, Severus had enough. He slammed his Occlumency shields back together with all the force he could muster and ran out the Leaky Cauldron as if the devil was after him.

Harry spent the rest of his lunch, examining the images that he had plundered from his attack. He was surprised to realize that one of Severus's tormentors was man who looked remarkably like him, down to the messy stick in every direction hair and the glasses.

_It was his father._

* * *

A few days later, under sunny skies, Harry walked out of his flat with his easel, canvas and painting supplies under his arms. He wore a black turtleneck shirt underneath a set of dark green robes along with his dragon-hide boots. Just before he exited the warmth of the building, he quickly casted a temperature maintenance charm on his clothes. Beside the sidewalks of Diagon Alley, Harry used magic to clear away the snow drifts and set up his easel and supplies.

He had taken a few days to sift through and make sense of the thoughts that he had intrusively obtained from the greasy man that had rudely attacked him with Legilimency during his lunch. It had taken him awhile to understand what he had seen, and he had used his leaps of intuition to make sense of it all. He had also realized that he had received enough pieces to almost put his entire life story together. He liked puzzles, and Severus Snape was no exception.

He waved his wand over the area he intended to paint to cast a warming charm, so that the cold would not interfere with the chemical makeup of his paint and damage his art.

Using the images fixed in his mind, Harry began the process of mixing paints for the appropriate shades of colours and began to paint.

* * *

Other wizarding pedestrians often stopped around Harry to watch him paint. He had gotten used to the audience, and didn't mind the attention. Some had offered to buy or ask for custom paintings, but he had always turned those offers down.

He painted when he wanted to.

Hours later, Harry became aware that a boy around his age was watching him paint. Using magic to see behind him, a tall, dark skinned boy with high cheekbones looked inquisitively at the painting. The boy was dressed in an expensive black cloak with subtle hints of real fur, with gloves and boots that were similar to Harry's. A solid dark green scarf kept his neck warm. Despite all this, Harry could sense the boy's faint shivers against the frigid air.

Harry was working on the expression of Severus's face with his brush. The Snape in his painting was sitting on the ground, in his pitch black robes, looking weary and regretful, under a willow tree. The whole picture was rather dark, but a brilliantly white lily was clutched in his fingers. The fingers of the other hand caressed the petals of the flower. In the background, Harry had painted the red-haired girl with the brilliant green eyes so much like his own with the man that he had figured out was his father. It took him a day to realize that the pretty red-head was his mother. They were holding hands. In the sky of the painting towards the left corner, Harry had drawn the cruel and handsome Lord Voldemort and Severus's tortured body in front of him. A picture of Albus Dumbledore, Lord of the Light stood beside the emotionlessly devoid Dark Lord.

"That is a beautiful painting." The dark skinned boy spoke quietly.

"Thanks."

"Who are you?"

"Harry. You are?"

"Blaise Zabini, at your service." The darker boy smiled slightly.

"A pleasure."

The two of them talked of inconsequential matters. Harry had employed a light use of Legilimency over the boy and saw that the Zabinis were of a neutral family, with ties neither to Voldemort or Dumbledore. Zabini was fatherless, and his mother was the alluring Black Widow, who married several ridiculously wealthy men, each one dying of suspicious causes and leaving her and her child wealthier with each death. He sensed that Blaise felt very much alone in the world, and Harry found himself interested in the boy.

He offered to share a drink with Blaise who protested that he was interfering with Harry's art. Harry had merely shrugged and said that he was done. He summoned his wand from the dragon leather holster up his robe's sleeve with a simple flick of his finger and applied a drying charm to the canvas before packing everything up. The holster had been a present from Ivan for Christmas weeks back. Blaise was stunned that Harry had his own wand, and was performing underage magic without any signs of Ministry owls.

Harry brought Blaise up to his flat, where he saw a large dark snake with a runic yellow marking on his forehead. To his credit, he remained calm when the snake slithered up to him and seemed to sniff his robes before giving what appeared to be a curt nod of approval towards Harry.

"My familiar, Zaliss, the Black Mamba of Africa," Harry gestured towards the large snake. He then turned to Zaliss. _:This is Blaise Zabini.:_

Blaise's mouth dropped upon hearing the Parseltongue.

"Would you like a butter beer, or hot chocolate?" Harry ignored Blaise's reaction, and started moving towards the kitchen.

"Isn't that a muggle drink?" Blaise looked surprised that a person who spoke Parseltongue would indulge in muggle beverages.

Harry shrugged. "It's a cold day, and you should really learn how to cast a temperature charm of some sort."

"You do realize that I don't have a wand right? Most people don't get them until they are off to Hogwarts."

"It's never too early to learn magic, Blaise. I could take you to a wand maker sometime."

"There's the little problem of the Ministry and their very annoying wand Trace." Blaise exclaimed.

"I could get you a wand that isn't covered under the Ministry's regulatory wards."

Ivan had explained to Harry that all of his wands were not registered under the Ministry. His wands were charmed with very complex magic to avoid detection and suspicion that the wand was illegal.

Harry brought over two steaming mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. He handed one to Blaise, who was still contemplating Harry's offer. Blaise took a cautious sip of the liquid.

"It's not bad."

"Told you so." Harry smirked. "There are many things that we can learn from the non-magical world, yet the wizards of today are too close-minded to see that."

The discussion turned towards the Zabini's family's prejudice of muggles and muggle-born wizards and witches and Harry's own opinions on that subject. Harry showed Blaise a muggle pen that made none of the mess a quill and a bottle of ink could, and it dried almost instantaneously. Blaise's pleasant surprise over the rather simple muggle tool was written all over his face and Harry offered it to him on the spot. He took it.

"I have to go." Blaise glanced at the clock that Harry had on the wall, "I hope you will let me come by and visit sometime since my mom is always busy."

* * *

Over the next few days, Harry placed the finishing touches on his painting depicting the regrets of Severus Snape's life. He added a pair of shimmering translucent deer Patronuses peering behind the trunk of the willow tree. He had signed his initials with a flourish at the bottom, right corner of the painting.

He had also finally managed to brew through all the potions in the book intended for 2nd year Hogwarts students. He still couldn't find a breakthrough for maintaining transfigurations and other long term magic spells for a long period of time via wandless magic, but the magic conducted through his phoenix feather and dragon heartstring wand was able to make transfigurations permanent.

Tea with Ivan occurred on a weekly basis, where they would talk about the things that Harry was currently studying or things that Harry had come across and didn't comprehend. He brought Blaise with him the week after he met him. Blaise was able to procure his wand – Ivy with Phoenix ash, fourteen and a half inches – excellent for curses.

Harry treated Blaise more like a ward than a best friend, due to his detached outlook on life. But Blaise was perfectly happy with their arrangement, it was better than sitting home all day with his mother and her husband number X. Blaise had long lost count on the number of men his mother had married. In fact, he had no idea who his real father was, despite his mother's insistence that the husband she was married to at the time of his conception was his real father. He still had his suspicions. Plus, he was expected to obey all his mother's wishes if he wanted to inherit, and he knew that she was more interested in him as a tool rather than the child he was.

Blaise had become a frequent visitor to the flat, perfectly content to simply sit there and pursue Harry's growing library or to simply listen to Harry's music. Harry would sometimes teach him the odd tidbit or two there. Blaise had overcame his aversion for Zaliss _(He was a Slytherin after all)_ and the great snake would often curl up against the boy who usually had his head in a book in front of the roaring fireplace, lit with brilliant silver fire on Harry's dark coloured couch.

It was the only place where he was allowed to be himself.

* * *

Later in January, Harry was taking a stroll alone in the famous Hyde Park in Muggle London. He was dressed in his Muggle-best, enhanced with charms to keep him warm. It was a quiet day as most Muggles were at school or work so he pretty much had the area to himself. He came here frequently on weekdays to think and sometimes when Blaise was around, the two would go together.

Harry had been investigating the blood-ancestry tree that the goblins at Gringotts had given him when he had first stepped foot into Wizarding London. The goblins had informed him a few days ago that the mysterious Albus Dumbledore had made an attempt to draw money out of his vault but failed. Harry had smirked slightly at that. He wasn't quite sure what the Leader of the Light was spending Harry's money on, but honestly, he wasn't interested.

The more important thing was looking at the very ends of the family tree, and Harry intended to reach out to the ones closest to his age. Harry knew from his political reading that it was important to have connections and of course, it was always nice to have people to support him. He was well aware that the magic world was divided too simply into black and white, dark and light and evil and good but what about gray? He wouldn't support Albus Dumbledore – that fool had caused more damage than he had helped, nor Lord Voldemort, he didn't help much more than the former had.

Neville Longbottom, the scion and heir to the prestigious Longbottom House was of interest, but it would be difficult to remove the influence of good old Dumbledore. Harry would have to wait for an opportunity to arise. However, there was also Hermione Granger, the descendent of multiple squib generations on a more distant part of the ancestral tree. Harry had discussed this with Blaise, and they had agreed to approach the Grangers in the spring regarding magic. Blaise wasn't too happy about dealing with muggles, but Harry had told him that it was within their best interests to, before old Dumbledore could get his hands on her.

Deep in his thoughts, Harry did not notice a swift four-footed creature; with fur as white as snow make a lunge for his leg.

* * *

**A/N:** Harry's meeting with Severus Snape for the first time went better than I expected. Hope the Occlumency/Legilimency stuff wasn't too abstract or confusing.

Review?


	5. V - Meet the Grangers

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, this wouldn't be on some fanfiction site, would it?

* * *

**Chapter V - Meet the Grangers**

Severus Snape walked slowly back to Hogwarts, towards the dungeons where he called home. Instead of the confident and graceful steps that he was famed for, he walked more like a dog who had been licked by his master. If he had a tail, it would have been drooping between his legs. He had forgotten his new cloak and his journal back at the Leaky Cauldron, and the humiliation of going back, when he had been the famed and well-feared greasy git of the dungeons, was too great.

He was shaken.

_Such power._

He had never felt such a seductive allure of power since the day he had met the Dark Lord for the first time.

He shivered uncontrollably.

Also, he had himself, made such a grievous error. The strange boy, with the long jet-black hair and the silver strands spilling on his forehead had stirred Severus's curiosity.

_Curiosity killed the cat._

The phrase reverberated like omnimous bell chimes in his head.

Severus felt the beginnings of a migraine banging in his left hemisphere.

The snake that had followed behind the boy had sent waves of uncontrollable fear down Severus's spine. It had reminded Severus too much of the days where the Dark Lord had been in power.

The ease the boy had shattered his defences had unnerved him to no end. Never had Dumbledore or the Dark Lord caused them to fall like a house of cards. Severus was able to block both out.

But then again he hoped that the boy had not foraged too deeply in his mind. His secrets would be compromised.

Since there has been nine years of peace in the Wizarding world, Severus decided that what Albus doesn't know wouldn't hurt him. He needed to keep some dignity.

* * *

Harry felt a sharp pain originated from his left shin. Wincing, he turned around to see what looked like a miniature wolf, fur so white that it could camouflage within the blindingly bright snow that covered the park. It had piercing blue eyes, a black nose and a bushy wolf tail.

Harry glared at the wolf. The four legged creature had sat down on its haunches, looking tame. He moved his eyes down to his bleeding shin. The familiar dripping of blood was a familiar sight for him.

It whined.

Harry looked at it in disbelief.

_;.. Sorry, Master, but the blood ritual needed to be completed..;_

_;..What are you?..; _

The wolf looked hurt. _;.. I travelled all the way from the north most reaches of what humans call Siberia to find you, and you don't know what I am?..;_

Harry shook his head.

_;.. I am Heidi, of the Wolves Who Have No Name. We roam the Arctic, and protect our lands. I was sent by the very deepest of Magics to find you and to be your familiar..;_

_;.. Ah, so you are my second familiar. I wonder how many more..; _

_;.. I see you know nothing about our species. But I don't know who you are either..;_

_;.. I am Harry Potter, but to all outsiders, I am Harry Grey. I do not wish to reveal my existence to those who do not need to know. And how the hell are we talking?..;_

_;.. The mind is a funny thing. But our species have telepathic powers and are able to communicate with any magical being. I am young, as evidenced by my white fur. On my first birthday, it will change colour, representing the nature of my bond-mate, or had I not been chosen, the choices that I've made within the one year..; _

_;.. Does the colours mean anything?..;_

_;.. It means everything. There are legends in Wizarding folklore of the Shadow Wolves. These are the Wolves granted to darkness, the colour of black had chosen them and given them the power of the shadows. These are the only kind of our species that your kind has had the fortune to meet. The others prefer to remain in seclusion, far from the eyes of humans. My year is almost up, so may magic reveal itself..;_

_;..So, the colour your fur transforms to, it will be based on me?..; _Harry was surprised at the concept. _;.. Why doesn't anyone else know of this?..;_

_;.. The last time a Wizard was chosen to be a bond-mate with one of us, was millennia ago. Before writing existed. Enough of the talk, have you something to eat?..;_

_;.. What do you prefer? ..;_

_;.. Raw meat. The bloodier the better..;_

_;.. Can you conceal yourself from non-magical folk?..'_

_;.. What do you think I am doing now?..;_

Harry smirked at Heidi's comment and the boy and wolf headed off to the nearby Tesco's, intending to select the bloodiest piece of meat that they could find.

* * *

"Bloody hell, mate! Couldn't you find something like a nice puppy dog or something?" Blaise found himself sprawled out on the floor, a curious Heidi standing on his chest. She had tackled the boy when he had emerged from the fireplace.

Harry allowed a tiny smile to grace his face. "I see you've met Heidi, my new familiar."

_;.. You are Master's friend, aren't you Blaise?..;_

Blaise gave another start. "It speaks! It speaks!"

Zaliss, who had been curled up near the fireplace gave a hiss that sounded rather similar to a snort.

_;..Of course I do...; _

Heidi removed herself from Blaise's chest and Harry offered him hand up.

"Why does she refer to you as Master, anyways?" Blaise asked curiously.

"Zaliss told me that wizarding familiars that are capable of verbal or mental communication instinctively refer to their wizarding bond mates as Master or Mistress, depending on the situation."

"So how many are you going to have?" Blaise looked pointed at the Zaliss and then the she-wolf, who was curled up on the stone that served as the base of the brick fireplace.

Harry shrugged, "According to this book on Wizarding familiars, the number often depends on how powerful a person is, or his intentions. I don't know what these intentions are referred to but most powerful wizards typically had one to two familiars. The most any magical being has ever had was ten, and that wizard was Merlin."

"Well, who knows, you may have eight more coming," Blaise mused lightly, "Good thing you have money – probably costs a fortune to feed them all."

Zaliss and Heidi glared at him.

"Familiars have no sense of humor at all," The dark skinned boy waved his hands in mercy as Harry went to the kitchen to fetch two butterbeers.

* * *

"You think they will be convinced?" Blaise asked Harry as they were walking towards the Grangers' home in a wealthy neighbourhood.

Harry had tied his hair up in a ponytail for this occasion, and dressed in a crisp white shirt, black trousers and an emerald green tie expertly knotted around his neck. Blaise was dressed in a similar manner, but Harry had magically altered his features so that he looked older. Unlike Harry, Blaise preferred his raven coloured hair short. Blaise nervously fidgeted with his wand that he had concealed in an invisible wand holster up his sleeve.

Harry merely placed his hand on Blaise's arm as reassurance and the two set off to look for the house.

* * *

Fortunately for Blaise, the meeting was surprisingly painless. Harry had surprising powers of charisma and charm when he wished to wield it, and had Hermione's parents mesmerized with his stories of magic, and his description of wizarding society. After Dr. Granger, now known as Wendell, as he had insisted the boys calling him by his first name, had asked them if they had any proof while drinking tea made by his wife Jane, Harry had nonchalantly removed his wand from the hidden holster up his sleeve and tapped his teacup. It immediately transformed into a gray tabby cat that meowed loudly prior the transfiguration. The cat walked up to Jane and jumped into her lap.

"Wow, and we were thinking about going to get a cat too," Jane exclaimed as the cat began to purr.

Wendell glanced at the cat before sipping his tea, "So you were saying that our Hermione will get a letter from a school called Hogwarts next July?"

Blaise raised his teacup and took a sip before answering, "Yes that is correct."

"And your proposal was to allow our daughter to come live with you over the weekends so she could become immersed in the magical world?" Wendell asked.

Harry nodded.

"There is one thing you should know, Wendell before you decide to agree or disagree with our proposal. I am actually a far distant relative from another branch of your family." Harry removed a piece of parchment from his trouser pocket and tapped his wand on it. The familiar red lines began to cover the page, but Harry had intentionally hidden the years of birth and death to hide his age.

Wendell Granger squinted at the page. Harry used his wand to point at the spot where Hermione was. Wendell traced the lineage up. "This is a marvel, Harry. It's amazing to think that our ancestors knew how to use magic."

"Indeed it is." Blaise smiled. He found himself, much to his surprise, enjoying the company of the Grangers.

"I think it's within my best interests to ensure that our family gets the right support. We will ensure that no harm befalls your daughter during her transition to the magical world, and she is at leisure to decide whether or not she wishes to pursue a magical or non-magical education when the year is up." Harry folded the parchment back up and placed it back in his pocket.

"Well then, if you have my daughter's best interests at heart, and you have proven without a doubt that magic indeed exists, then I guess the logical step would be to take you up on your proposal. Jane and I have been worried that we were seeing things when we saw Hermione doing bits of magic during the past few years."

"We think your daughter would enjoy this opportunity," Blaise added, "And it would be wonderful for her to establish some connections before running off to pursue magic at school."

"I quite agree, Blaise," Jane responded this time. "So how is Hermione going to reach you?"

"Next week at six in the evening on Friday, have Hermione throw some of this powder in the nice fireplace you have here," Harry handed a muggle aluminum tin can full of Floo powder. "Make sure the logs are lit. Tell her to say this address clearly and walk into the fire. And please don't tell anybody about where I live. It's for security reasons. "

The boys and the Grangers shook hands, and they parted their ways. Harry was glad that they had the forethought for Hermione to Floo in to the Leaky Cauldron. Magic made security so much more difficult. Harry made a mental note to study up on warding and runes sometime. He had begun to teach Blaise the basics of Occlumency, just in case.

* * *

"So are you going to Hogwarts, Harry?" Blaise asked Harry as they dug into dinner that they had both prepared earlier.

Harry poked at his pork chops. "I am leaning against no at the moment. I've been getting along fine without a formal wizarding education. Plus Hogwarts overlooks things. Did you know that Dumbledore removed the Wizarding Economics course when he came on as Headmaster? He pulled out several other ones too."

"Really?," Blaise speared peas with his fork. "You don't have much faith in Albus Dumbledore, the supposed greatest Wizard alive. Even Voldemort feared him back then."

"No, I don't trust him. But I think I will put my trust into you." Harry looked thoughtfully at the pork chop on his fork before placing it in his mouth.

"What do you mean by that?"

"What I tell you now, will remain between you and me. If our mysterious Hermione is found to be trustworthy, we may share it with her when she begins learning the techniques of Occlumency." Harry's voice had a serious edge in it.

Blaise removed his wand from his holster. "I, Blaise Zabini, swear that nothing spoken here will leave these walls unless your permission is granted. So mote it will be." His wand glowed with a bright light.

"I am not actually Harry Grey." Harry revealed.

Blaise looked surprised, "Who are you?"

"I am Harry Potter, the so called "Boy who lived"."

* * *

A brown bushy haired girl stood in front of her living room fireplace. She was very confused, even a little scared. Her parents had told her that magic was real, and that she had been performing magic spontaneously all throughout her years of living. In fact, they had arranged it with some lost long relatives that she would live in the Wizarding world during the weekends to get a feel of her newfound heritage.

It was all so bizarre.

She looked at the elegant clock that graced the mantel of her fireplace. It was almost six. Reluctantly, she grabbed some of the strange green powder and threw it in the flames. The flames rose high and flashed green. Gathering all her courage, she called out the address to the Leaky Cauldron and stepped into the flames.

She found herself tumbling out of another fireplace, coughing as the soot entered her airway. She felt someone's hand pull her up, and another offered her a glass of water. After her coughing fit subsided, she looked at her surroundings. It was rather dingy, and dark. People with strange clothing as well as normal attire that she was used to sat at tables, the bar or the couches either reading, drinking, eating, talking or any combinations of the previous options. None of them had been interested in her appearance so she deduced having people tumble out of fireplaces was a norm.

Finally, she looked at the two males that had helped her. A pale boy who looked older than her had helped her up. Another darker skinned and taller boy had passed her the glass of water, which she drank from.

"I take it that you are Hermione Granger?" Blaise asked in a leisurely fashion.

It took a few seconds for Hermione to regain her verbal faculties, "Yes I am. Are you Blaise and Harry?"

Blaise nodded and Harry had replied in the affirmative.

"Would you like dinner?" Harry asked.

The three ate at the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

Hermione was pleasantly surprised when she was lead into Harry's flat. A theme of fine wood and neutral colours greeted her eyes. The living room reminded Hermione of home. Leather couches were arranged in an L shaped fashion while a coffee table with legs of black painted wood and covered by an emerald green cloth sat on top of a neutral rug sat in the middle. A marble and brick fireplace faced the longer couch. The room was decorated in paintings, and wall hangings, in which she would later learn that most of the art was contributed by Harry himself. At the far end of the living room, a Steinway grand stood beside a basket of music scores. An easel with a half-painted canvas stood next to the corner of the room. Much to her own delight, bookshelves filled the wall opposite to the fireplace and innumerable books were stacked on the shelves. She noted that there were non-magical books in the shelves in addition to magical ones.

Much to not her delight was when Zaliss sniffed at her long sleeved shirt and she almost fainted in shock, while a white wolf that sniffed at her feet. Harry introduced his familiars to her and vice versa, reassuring her that they were harmless. Harry and Blaise showed her their study/practice room, which was actually the former master bedroom. There was a large desk at the end with squishy chairs for reading and a large space for practicing wandwork or dueling. Harry had made sure to put unbreakable charms and silencing charms all around the room.

Finally, they brought her to her own room, which Harry and Blaise had spend a week learning the appropriate expansion charms needed to fit an extra room onto the flat. The flat originally had three rooms, and Harry and Blaise had taken the other two. The furniture was courtesy of Harry's transfiguration skills.

Hermione noticed that the light in the flat came from candles hanging in holders, on chandeliers. Curious silver flames lit the rooms.

"Why is all the fire such an odd colour? And is there no electricity in the magical world?" Hermione observed.

"My magic prefers to take on a silver colouration and non-magical electronics don't work here. The magic seems to disrupt the flow of electrons." Harry explained.

"Aw, I brought my laptop," Hermione exclaimed.

"What's a laptop?" Blaise looked confused, while Harry replied, "We could get you one powered on magic. I think there's an American company who does owl order on these things."

Harry elbowed Blaise and murmured that he would explain it to him later.

* * *

The weekend passed by in a blur. Hermione was determined to learn all she could about the Wizarding world. During her spare time, she pursued the books on Harry's shelves. Blaise and Harry took her shopping, buying her new robes and a cloak along with dragonhide boots and gloves at Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions. They took her to Flourish and Blotts where Hermione acquired some interesting books on magic. They avoided Knockturn Alley for the time being.

Hermione was also delighted that Harry had non-magical books in his shelves as well. Harry had explained to her that he hadn't given up learning from muggle textbooks – he was trying to work on Arithmancy and found that muggle Calculus, Trigonometry and Geometry textbooks gave a good foundation for what was needed in that subject. Blaise spent a lot of time trying to learn about Muggles to make an effort to bridge the gap. He had been fascinated when Harry had explained to him what a laptop was. Harry had found the Wizarding brochure that offered laptops powered on magic and ordered three from the Wizarding branch of Microsoft.

On Sunday, Hermione took Harry and Blaise to muggle London, where they watched a movie – with Blaise exclaiming that it was just like magic throughout – Harry was very tempted to bang Blaise's head against the wall. They indulged at Hermione's favourite Fish & Chips place – a place where Hermione explained that she and her parents would always go there on a trip to London for lunch. Blaise was fascinated by escalators and elevators and was complaining to Harry and Hermione about why the wizarding world couldn't have them, while Harry rolled his eyes and reminded him of Apparition, Portkeys and Flooing.

This of course led to a conversation regarding the merits and disadvantages of various Muggle technologies utilized for transportation, with Harry and Hermione patiently explaining what airplanes were.

Of course, all good things come to an end, and Harry and Blaise sent Hermione home via the Floo Network, with promises that they would get a wand for her the following week.

* * *

**A/N: **And good things do temporarily come to an end. I am on co-op this semester in addition to studying for my MCATs so updates will not be so frequent over the weekdays, I am afraid. Thanks for all your support guys, and I hope to have the sixth chapter out sometime this week.

Reviews are appreciated! (There's a rumor that reviews are proportional to update speed.)

Ciao!


	6. VI - A Collision in Diagon Alley

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**Chapter VI - A Collision in Diagon Alley**

Heidi woke up from her sleep, to the sounds of her Master and his friend, Blaise talking and eating breakfast at the dining table next to the kitchen. The strong smell of sausages, eggs, grilled tomatoes and toast was strong to her sensitive nose.

But there was something a little off today. She seemed to notice that her Master's friend had a golden glow surrounding him, and somehow, she knew that it represented happiness. Hidden deep in the dominant golden glow, she noticed purple and even darker tendrils of light – representing sadness and darker feelings that she could not put into language. But compared to Blaise, her Master's "aura" was lacking in luster but instead gave off a faint grey with smidgeons of yellow.

Heidi thought it was strange that she could see these colours emanating from these humans. She turned her eyes towards Zaliss, who was sleeping contentedly in front of the fireplace. She sensed warm and content auras radiating from her fellow familiar.

Then it clicked.

She looked down at her paws and noticed that some of her pristine white fur had turned silver. It was a subtle transformation. She leapt up and ran for the looking glass that she knew her master had in the room that was called the bathroom. She jumped up and landed on the toilet seat and made the final leap to the sink.

Her silver fur alternated with the familiar bright white fur and she noticed that the colouration made her look more like an ordinary wolf. She was slightly disappointed that she wasn't some flashy colour like red or even blue, but at least she wasn't a shockingly bright pink. Maybe it had to do with her Master's theme of silver – the silver lock of hair, the silver fire, etc. She shook her head. She wasn't quite sure what powers were conferred to a silver wolf but judging by what happened earlier, it was safe to say that it had something to do with reading emotion and feelings.

_;.. Hmm... That could be very interesting...;_

* * *

Harry found himself walking around Diagon Alley in a restless fashion. He had left both his familiars at home and Blaise had some fancy family function or something along those lines to attend to. He went to Flourish and Blotts and bought a book on advanced shielding charms, as well as a book on basic wards that he didn't own. Following this, he headed for Honeydukes, where he bought a big box of Treacle Fudge, which his taste buds seem to have a predilection for, much to Blaise's astonishment. He also bought several slabs of Honeydukes' Finest Chocolate for Blaise, who had a preference for more normal treats and an assorted mix of goodies for Hermione to try out the next weekend.

Harry was thinking about his plans for later when he felt himself collide with a blonde haired girl who was around his age. She wore her hair in pigtails, and she wore a pair of jeans, and a muggle shirt. This was partially covered with her cloak, which seemed to be too large for her. The bags she had been carrying were dropped on the floor, and Harry bent down and retrieved the shopping bags. The girl, who looked highly nervous, stammered her apologies while Harry was cursing himself for not watching where he was going.

"Actually, I should be the one apologizing," Harry interrupted the girl, "I wasn't watching where I was going. The name's Harry."

He extended a hand, and the girl awkwardly shifted her shopping bags so that they were in one hand. She shook it. He took a light look at her mind – half blood, muggle mother and magical father – no ties to any particular side. _Seems promising, _the inner voice in his head observed.

"I am Hannah. It's nice to meet you Harry." She smiled slightly, "I shouldn't have bought so much stuff. My father won't be too happy."

"What are you doing out here alone?" Harry inquired. It was highly unusual to see people his age out alone, even though Blaise typically frequented the streets of Diagon Alley alone.

Hannah sighed, "My mom gave me some money a week ago for my tenth birthday and I really needed a new cloak – this is a hand-me-down from some relative," she pointed at her cloak, "They were too busy to take me, so I snuck out through the Floo."

"Ah," Harry couldn't think of anything to say. There was nothing to say. But it did show him that she had an ounce of courage to sneak out. He also observed that she could use some confidence.

"I think I am kind of lost now, actually." Hannah frowned, "I swear I've seen these buildings three times within the past hour."

Thinking that it wouldn't hurt to investigate Hannah more, Harry offered her the use of his own fireplace. Hannah looked delighted.

* * *

A few blocks later, Harry tapped his wand at the door that served as the entrance of the building that his flat was located in. The door swung open and Harry led Hannah up the stairs to the top floor. He unlocked the door to his flat with a rather ordinary key. Before entering, Harry tapped his wand against the door, to remove a ward. He had experimentally set up the ward to allow the entry of only Blaise, Hermione and himself through. It had been a complex affair, as Harry had to build the ward using several different spells which took him hours to get right, but it could be easily deactivated and activated by the people who had been keyed into the wards. It was also convenient to add new people to the wards as well. Harry was also planning to redo the wards that he had set up around his flat with runes, to make them harder to take down.

But for now, he opened the door, and allowed the blonde to enter.

"Wow, this is all yours? Where are your parents?"

"I live alone. My parents are dead." Harry replied listlessly.

Hannah looked horrified, "Did... Did you-know-who kill them?"

Harry nodded. At this moment, Hannah saw a silvery wolf run up to them. She sniffed at Hannah's feet.

"This is Heidi, one of my pets," Harry explained. "Heidi, this is Hannah."

_;.. It's nice to meet you Hannah...; _

"Wow, she can talk!" Hannah bent down to pet the wolf. Harry closed the door behind him and walked into the kitchen.

Harry had noticed the silvery sheen that Heidi's coat had transformed into a few days ago. He hadn't asked her about it yet, but he had a feeling that Heidi would say something if it was important. He pulled out a butterbeer from the magically powered fridge and walked over towards Hannah, who had taken a seat on one of Harry's couches. She was giving Heidi a lifetime's worth of petting. He placed the drink in front of her.

"Butterbeer! My parents don't let me drink it too often. My mom says it's unhealthy." Hannah grinned at the bottle, "Thank you."

"No problem," Harry sighed. _It must be nice to have parents who care like that_. He shrugged.

"It's cool that you can do all this magic! I can't wait to go to Hogwarts to learn all about it. My dad tells me stories about his days there. My mom is a muggle, so she doesn't know much about magic except the stuff my dad tells her." Hannah suddenly burst out to cover up the silence that followed.

"I could teach you if you want." Harry found himself offering. _Geez, I already had two pupils. Oh well, if Heidi had taken a liking to her, why not?_

He had found that his familiars were great judges of character.

"I need a wand." Hannah mused, "I mean, my dad taught me some stuff with his wand, but it would be nice to have my own."

Harry thought for a bit. "Why don't you come visit me on Saturday? I will meet you at the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron at let's say two in the afternoon. I have another friend who is also going to get a wand that day too."

"Sounds like a plan!" Hannah exclaimed, "Hmm... isn't it illegal to use underage magic with wands though? You don't look much older than me."

Harry smiled, "Well, I suggest you don't tell the Ministry then. It will just be a secret between us."

"Alright then, I will see you on Saturday at two! Thanks for everything, Harry!" Hannah made her farewells to Heidi, who whined a bit when she got off the couch. She took a pinch of Floo powder from the ornamental pot that Harry kept on the mantel of his fireplace. She tossed it in, called out her address and was gone in a flash of green fire.

* * *

Blaise and Harry were sitting at the dining table, sipping tea and eating well-buttered crumpets on a plate. Blaise had been surprised that Harry was an excellent cook when he had first met him. It was already Friday again, and they would soon go fetch Hermione from the Leaky Cauldron soon.

"So how was that family function of yours?" Harry sipped lightly at his hot tea.

Blaise shrugged. "Same old, same old. Rich bores prattling on about their yachts, stocks and speculations. But anyhow, anything particular we are doing this weekend?"

Blaise usually stayed at Harry's over the weekend. What he didn't tell Harry was that his mother went over to France on said weekends to have an affair with another filthy rich wizard also having an affair. _Merlin, my mother lives the most convoluted life, and Husband X hasn't got a clue._

"Well, I met a girl named Hannah Abbott yesterday. Or I should say, bumped into her, literally. I think she's trustworthy." Harry replied.

"And what does Hannah have to do with our weekend?" Blaise asked suspiciously.

Harry bit into his third crumpet. "We are going to get her a wand too."

"Sometimes, Harry, I think you only make friends because they are of use to you, in some way." Blaise looked at his crumpet before biting it. He thought a bit longer, "Actually, I can't believe I just said that. That was the very definition of how a Slytherin makes friends. And I am a Slytherin."

Harry smirked. "Actually, isn't that how most people make friends on a fundamental level? I mean person A enjoys the company of person B – person A would become friends with person B to ensure that person A would have the continued pleasure to enjoy the company of person B."

"Merlin, you sound like an Arithmancy textbook." Blaise made a face.

"I like numbers. They are a method of order in a world of chaos." Harry got up from his chair, "We mustn't keep Hermione waiting."

The two boys exited Harry's flat.

* * *

Hermione lit the fat green candle with a match on her nightstand. She couldn't wait to get her own wand so that she could illuminate the rooms in Harry's flat without all these complications. She grabbed the book on Wizarding Culture beside her pillow and flipped to her bookmarked page. She had learned that there were several powerful wizarding families in Magical Britain, and these families controlled a great portion of the magical Government, the Ministry of Magic. She had read about the stigma applied to muggle-born witches and wizards and felt a little angry about it.

She had asked Harry and Blaise about it earlier. Blaise had told her not to worry about it since she had magical blood in her veins while Harry had merely snorted and claimed that all "muggle-born" wizards and witches had some magical ancestor at some distant past.

After dinner at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Blaise had taken her back to the flat, and Harry had introduced the topic of Occlumency. Both boys had agreed that it was an imperative topic that Hermione should apply herself to and she herself agreed when Harry told her about his encounter with the not-so-pleasant Severus Snape down at the Leaky. Blaise had been shocked as Harry had never told him about this.

"Severus Snape! He's the Head of Slytherin House at Hogwarts. And he's such a git!" Blaise frowned in anger, a little disgusted that his potential Head of House would do such a thing, "You don't go walking around and sticking your mind into everyone else's business!"

"Well," Harry sighed, "It would be very difficult to govern Legilimency. I do it myself sometimes, but only a superficial scan to make sure that all is clear."

"Is that not rude?" Hermione interjected.

Blaise sighed, "I hope you don't do it to us."

Harry grinned, "I wouldn't dream of such a thing. I am very careful. I think I have developed a new way to probe without being noticed."

"Really? How?" Blaise demanded. He was proficient at Legilimency when there were very limited barriers present.

"Simple. Instead of sharp prickly objects that every Legilimens seems to use around here, I've been thinking along the lines of air and mosquito bites."

What Harry didn't tell them was that he had discovered quite recently that in most barriers, no matter how well defended, most of the illusions created usually had a weak spot or two that get neglected by the Occlumens. Someone who can sense magic, like Harry could, can easily find the faults and break through without having to go through the entire mindscape.

Blaise scratched his head. "I don't understand you sometimes. But you are right, laws on Legilimency would be very hard to enforce. Also, few are capable of being very good."

Harry shrugged while Blaise went on.

"Yeah, like what can the Ministry do? I don't think there are wards available to detect Legilimency or they are extremely obscure." Blaise groaned. "I am glad you made me learn it, Harry."

The boys had explained the art of Occlumency to her. Harry had described it as the art to confuse, scare, injure or the use of any other tactic to be able to dislodge the attacker from her mind. It could consist of a series of mindscapes that would serve as the barriers but Harry had warned that a very powerful wizard or witch could brute force their way through a barrier. The only way to apparently avoid that was to keep practicing and strengthening the fortifications.

Hermione had spent the time afterwards to try it out, with Blaise and Harry taking turns assaulting her mind. She had felt mentally drained afterwards. Blaise had reassured her that he had felt the same way when he first started.

She sighed and closed her book. She snuffed out the candle and before she fell asleep, and mentally went through the few mindscapes that she had designed earlier before sleep claimed her.

* * *

After picking up Hannah from the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry, Hermione, Blaise and Hannah walked together through Diagon Alley, towards Knockturn Alley. There was a pleasant breeze in the air, and Harry was glad it wasn't raining today. It had been raining for the entire week.

"Guys, isn't Knockturn Alley supposed to be dangerous?" Hannah looked around cautiously when the group had officially crossed the divide, "My dad said that I should be wary here."

Blaise grinned, "Nonsense, with Harry and I here, we can easily defeat any forces that would dare do us harm."

"Our two heroes!" Hermione whispered sarcastically, causing Blaise to pull a face that sent Hannah into convulsions of laughter. Harry merely looked amused.

Harry frowned disapprovingly at the rest of the group, "Guys, we should still be a little quieter here. It's not usually a good idea to draw attention to shady areas like this."

"Right, sorry boss," Blaise gave a mock salute that almost made Hermione choke.

"Sorry Harry," Hannah whispered.

"Here we are," Harry opened the door to Ivan's wand shop.

Blaise went in first, followed by Hermione and Hannah. Harry quietly closed the door behind them. The familiar footsteps of Ivan could be heard and he soon emerged.

"Hello, Harry and Blaise; I see you brought friends." Ivan walked gracefully towards them, his Russian accent adding elegance to his tone.

"Hey Ivan, this is Hannah and Hermione. They are interested in wands." Harry introduced the two unknowns to Ivan.

Ivan stroked his chin. "Ah, customers. Come along, then."

Hermione and Hannah were intrigued by their surroundings. Ivan's wand shop was filled with wooden shelves containing boxes with a clear panel in front to show the wands within. Strange tapestries and furs adorned the room, while curios from Ivan's world travels sat on top of every shelf. Two real samurai swords hung in an X fashion on a wall next to the table where Ivan worked his craft. An animated pirate ship in a glass bottle had miniature moving squabbling pirates catching Hannah's interest, while Hermione found herself looking at several dusty tomes on equally dusty shelves in the corner of the room. Blaise had sat down in a faded velvet armchair, while Harry observed everyone in the room.

Soon, Hannah and Hermione were waving the wands that Ivan had procured for them. It didn't take long for Hermione to find her wand – vine wood and dragon heartstring from a particularly nasty member of the Hungarian Horntail species, ten and three-quarters of an inch. Hannah had much more trouble. Some of the wands she waved issued smoke, while Ivan snatched away the other ones before she could even wave them – the wand maker knew instinctively that the pairing wouldn't work.

"Ah, you are just as problematic as Harry. Hold on a tick. I think I've got what you are looking for, dear." Ivan removed the latest wand from Hannah and ran to the back room.

"I finally have a wand." Hermione smiled. "Lumos!"

A light shone brightly at the tip of Hermione's wand.

Ivan came back with another wand box tucked underneath is arm. He carefully opened the hinged lid and lovingly handed it over to Hannah. The wand had a specifically carved handle that was smooth to the touch with a rune carved at the middle of the handle.

Hannah took it with equal reverence that Ivan had showed and she gave it a wave. A shower of fall leaves blew out from the tip and surrounded the room. Ivan nonchalantly vanished them with his own wand before saying, "It's always the wand that picks the wizard. That wand was the one I made two days ago. I don't often use this kind of wood, but I think it will serve you well. Aspen and Basilisk fang, nine and a quarter inches – prefers charms."

"How much?" Hermione was already reaching for her sack of money.

Ivan smiled. "Wand making for me is a hobby. I am satisfied if they can find their destinies with a wizard or a witch. I will take no more than five galleons for each."

"That is very generous. Thank you, Ivan," Hannah pulled out five galleons from her own stash of money, while Hermione pulled out her money too. Hermione had told Harry that she had more than enough money to pay for her stuff and that starting from this weekend; she would use her own money. As a result, Harry and Blaise had gotten up early this morning, and gone to Gringotts with her to convert her Muggle pounds into Wizarding money.

The four ended up staying for tea.

* * *

It wasn't until five when they finally left. Blaise had then insisted that they take a prowl around Borgin and Burkes before heading back. Harry had agreed while Hannah looked excited with the prospect. Hermione, who didn't know what Borgin and Burkes was, remained passive, seeing that she would know later.

"Don't touch anything in the store," Blaise cautioned the two girls, "They could be cursed and then we will have to spend the rest of our weekend breaking the curse."

Hannah nodded. Hermione looked interested.

"Blaise is right. I've been in there several times, and I sensed really dark curses on these objects." Harry reaffirmed, "Are we ready?"

The four of them went in to the dark and grimy looking store.

* * *

Hermione and Hannah found themselves walking around glass cabinets containing expensive looking jewellery, but heeding Harry and Blaise's warning regarding dangerous objects. They could tell that some of them were charmed though. Hannah saw a pendant that seemed to have a compulsive charm placed on it, and it took her some thought to break free from the urge to pick it up and wear it around her neck.

Blaise knew what he wanted to look at. He was more interested in some of the darker objects – not to purchase them, but to read the labels. There were always interesting and questionable things in the shop, and he figured that he might as well broaden his horizons just in case, Merlin forbid, he came across them. So far the most dangerous thing he saw was a golden toilet, which was cursed with a severe constipation charm so powerful that it could kill. The placard beside the gilded loo listed some examples of what had happened. Blaise had shuddered.

Harry found himself wandering around the back of the store where some of the most lethal and innocent looking objects were. Harry had the special innate ability to detect pure magic itself and he usually came here with Blaise to see if there was any object worth salvaging. Harry had found that he could extract the black tendrils that formed the curse and burn it with the same silver flames that had destroyed the taint in his core earlier in his life.

He continued to observe the cursed objects until he caught in his peripheral magic vision a slender boy with rather pointed features and hair so blonde that it was almost white about to touch a teapot whose matter that Harry perceived was tangled with nasty knots of cursed black threads.

"I wouldn't touch that if I was you."

* * *

**A/N: **Guess who? Bwahahaha.

Review?


	7. VII - Harry's Decision

**The Inbetween - **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **You know the business. I don't own Harry Potter, or anything else you recognize. Just lucky that J. K. Rowling lets me play in her toy box.

* * *

**Chapter VII - Harry's Decision**

The blond, upon hearing Harry's warning, dropped his hand as if burned. He turned around to examine the raven-haired boy with a silver lock of hair spilling over his forehead. He observed the well tailored cloak – indication that the boy must have came from a relatively well-off family – but probably couldn't hold a candle to his. The boy's cloak wasn't fastened up, so Draco could see the forest green Muggle dress shirt and the charcoal faded jeans. He looked at that with disdain – no self-respecting pureblood would go around in that.

"Who are you?" Draco threw arrogantly at Harry, his pride wounded from being chastised about such basic cursed objects protocol.

Harry had already done his routine Legilimency scan on the blond in front of him. He had learned that the blond was Draco Malfoy and the future heir to the traditionally dark Malfoy family. It didn't take much probing to see an upbringing steeped in Muggle prejudices and pureblood supremacy.

"Harry. Harry Grey." Harry replied.

"You must be a Muggle-born or half-blood. There is no pureblooded family with the last name Grey." Draco observed, with a hint of malice.

Harry frowned, his fingers of his right hand fiddling around with the sleeve of his cloak where his wand holster was concealed.

"Does it really matter, Draco?" His voice was cold.

Draco was taken slightly aback that the boy in front of him knew his name. But then again, he was the scion of the fabulously wealthy Malfoy family. _He was famous._ The thought made him smile.

"You are so naive, Grey. Blood is everything in our world. We don't need the mud of the Mudbloods to tarnish our lineages." Draco scorned, "Listen to the advice of your betters, and you will go far."

Harry smirked, "You, my better? I think not."

Draco's cold stare was enough to make the temperature of the air around him plummet at least ten degrees. But before he could come up with an appropriate insult, Harry had lazily flicked his index finger and his dark wand appeared in his hand.

"If you've got anymore insults, Malfoy, I will let my wand do the talking."

"Are you really that idiotic, Grey? You can't use magic until you are of age! Do you really know nothing about our world? Go on then, I dare you. My Father will have you clapped up in chains in Azkaban!"

Harry was debating what humiliating spell to cast but his thoughts were interrupted when he saw Blaise stride up to him.

"Hello, Blaise," Draco immediately switched gears from taunting to exchanging pleasantries. He was also pointedly avoiding Harry.

"Hello, Malfoy," Blaise then immediately directed his attention to Harry, "Can we go yet? I am starving."

"But we just had tea!" Harry had vanished his wand back to its original place in his holster.

"Ahem." Draco was tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. _How dare they ignore him!_ _And Blaise? This is inexcusable!_

"Oh, go shove it, Malfoy. I heard every word between you and Harry here. And I am hungry." Blaise shot an annoyed look at the blond and tossed Harry a pleading one.

"Fine, go consort with blood traitors and all that mud." Draco sneered.

Harry's wand had reappeared again.

"What is going on here?" A more elegant and taller version of the mini-Malfoy strode between the two sides.

Draco immediately started whining, "He threatened to hex me with his wand!"

"What wand?" Harry's wand had returned to the hidden spot in his sleeve and he spread out his arms to show that he was unarmed.

Blaise had chosen to remain silent.

Lucius took a quick glance at the strange boy standing beside Zabini and his self-preservation instincts honed after years of servitude to Lord Voldemort had began to tingle.

He locked eyes with the boy and was forced to look away seconds later. He gave both Harry and Blaise a brief nod of acknowledgement before directing irritation at his son.

"Come on Draco, we don't have all day to pick fights." He grabbed Draco by his cloak and began to stare his son towards the door.

"I won't forget you Grey. I will get you back for this." Draco mouthed on the way out.

Harry merely arched an eyebrow.

* * *

"Draco's always been a nasty piece of work," Blaise commented when the four were heading back towards Harry's flat. "But, I mean, you can't really blame him for who he is. He's spoiled rotten by both his parents and his Aunt Bella, you know what she's like..."

Hermione, Harry and Hannah gave him confused looks.

"Who is his Aunt Bella?" Hermione asked Blaise.

Blaise looked apologetic, "Sorry, I forgot you guys don't know. All the purebloods know the who's who in our little society. Guess I am responsible for imparting all the gossip." He made a face.

Hannah grinned, "Spill!"

"Draco's dear Aunt Bella is actually Bellatrix Lestrange, formerly Bellatrix Black of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. She was a staunch supporter of the Dark Lord, and there are rumors that she was his Right Hand – or even consort, even though she is married." Blaise paused.

_The holy institution of marriage for him had been long shattered by his dear mother. _

"She upholds all the old traditional ideals that purebloods are the ones that matter –," Blaise continued on, but was interrupted.

"How come she isn't in Azkaban?" Hannah asked, "I mean, I remember Bellatrix was responsible for torturing the Longbottoms to insanity."

"Wait, what? Neville's parents were tortured?" Harry inquired.

"Tortured?" Hermione looked shocked before asking, "Where and what is Azkaban?"

"Azkaban is the wizarding prison, Hermione. It's guarded by Dementors. They drain your hopes and happiness and leave you with despair." Hannah explained while Blaise then managed to get his bit in, "What Bellatrix did was insane. She tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom with the Cruciatus."

Seeing Hermione's confused look, Blaise took a side track, "The Cruciatus is one of the three Unforgivable curses. It's extremely painful from what I've read and heard and basically it makes your muscles go into uncontrollable spasms. It also leaves curse scars. Bellatrix left the curse on the Longbottoms for so long – totally destroyed their minds!"

"That's horrible." Hermione shuddered.

Blaise then added, "Well, many of the Dark Lord's supporters were never caught since the Fall. Cross the ministry's greedy palms with gold and silver, plus influential friends in high places and the excuse of being under the Imperius – voila, you are free!"

The conversation shifted to the lighter topic of dinner when Blaise's stomach made a loud noise. Blaise, being Blaise, denied that his stomach would do such an un-Zabini noise.

* * *

"So, I am probably not going to Hogwarts." Harry confessed to Ivan as they were having their weekly tea.

Ivan's face remained passive. "I see."

There was something unnatural about the lack expression on the oriental looking man's face.

"Dumbledore is there. He won't be on my side, since he's on his own side." Harry continued on, staring down at the dregs at the bottom of the teacup, "I mean, he made me suffer for almost an entire decade. I don't intend to enter _his_ playground, governed by _his _rules."

Ivan pressed his palms together over the cup of tea. "That can be arranged."

"How so?" Harry took a delicate sip of the amber liquid.

"The only thing stopping you from going to Hogwarts is a law passed by the Ministry stating that all wizards and witches must attend a Wizarding school until they complete their OWLs. But there is another law - which was passed to appease the most traditional of purebloods who wished that their children were to be homeschooled. Your guardian is free to determine how you are educated, as long as you write the OWLs when you are fifteen."

Harry paused to process the information.

"I have no guardian."

"I would be happy to adopt you," Ivan replied. He poured more tea into his cup, "In return, I will expect you to follow my route of study. You may have a say in it."

"I understand." Harry put down his teacup. "What route do you propose? Another school?"

Ivan smirked, a rather scary expression on a man so reserved. "No. I will procure tutors. I know what you need - and how far you are from reaching your potential. I will also warn you that you do not have an easy path ahead."

"So, we need to go to Gringotts to finalize this." Harry asked, before standing up.

"I will be there. Tuesday at seven in the morning. Good day, Harry."

"Wait, are you on my side?" Harry asked, rather impulsively.

Ivan smiled. It was even scarier than the previous smirk. "Harry, Harry, Harry. I am always on your side."

He stood up as well, and with an elegant swish of his black robes, walked out the room.

* * *

The months passed leisurely for Harry. He was adopted by Ivan the next week - on a Tuesday and they had agreed that Harry's education will not begin until all the people in the same year as him were at Hogwarts.

"Go have fun, while you can."

Those were Ivan's cryptic words.

Hermione, Hannah and Blaise dropped by whenever they felt like - which was almost every day. Harry had warded his flat so that only they could enter - and they could enter whenever they wished. Hermione preferred to do her Muggle schoolwork at Harry's place - it wasn't as lonely as being at home. The others would leave her in peace until her work was done. Plus, Harry owned so many books that Hermione did not have.

She felt like a kid in the candy store at Harry's flat.

She and Hannah had started working from the First year books, determined to master as much as they could before Hogwarts. When they got stuck, Blaise served as their tutor. He, himself, was immersing himself in anything that interested him. Right now, it was a rather advanced book on Transifiguration. He had finally managed to recreate the transfiguration that Harry had performed for Hermione's parents and ended up with a black cat. Knowing that animals created in this manner would expire depending on the caster's mastery and skill - Blaise immediately transfigured the cat into a plushie version of itself.

Their magical laptops had also arrived. When Hermione first saw hers, she was in amazement. Unlike the clunky laptops that were available in the Muggle world, her laptop was shiny and sleek. There was no need for an extension cord of any sort as the device was powered by pure magic. The downside was that the computers were functional only in places with high magic density such as Diagon Alley or Hogwarts or any other highly warded building.

One big advantage for Hermione was she realized that the internet in the magical world was the exact same as the Muggle counterpart. The only difference was that wizarding websites used another tag at the end of their urls and only the magic laptops could access them. Blaise was astonished that there were so many things to do on the computer. Hermione had almost fallen out of her chair with fits of laughter at his dumbfounded expression when he accidentally ended up on a porn site due to a misleading advertisement.

Upon seeing the devices, Hannah had promptly ordered one.

Since none of them had owls, with the exception of the wealthy Blaise, they were delighted with the concept of email. Blaise had been shocked to discover that these messages were almost instantaneously received. Harry, however, did warn them to be careful about what they write on the web - as government agencies - international ones - could be monitoring and tracking them.

Harry hadn't told his friends that he wasn't going to go with them to Hogwarts. The other three spent a lot of time trying to imagine what it would be like and all have agreed that they would maintain their close friendships with each other no matter which House they were sorted.

"Sod what all the other Slytherins will think. Even if you guys end up as bloody heroic Gryffindors, I won't abandon any of you." Blaise had reassured them all.

* * *

Summer came and went. Blaise bought Harry the latest Cleansweep, determined that Harry should learn how to fly in order to fully embrace his wizarding heritage for his birthday. Much to Blaise's awe, Harry took to flying like a duck to water and was soon doing dives, corkscrews and other tricks that Blaise himself wouldn't dare to do. Hannah and Hermione had also learned to fly. Hannah had borrowed her father's broom, while Blaise had lent Hermione one of his own brooms from the Zabini's broom -shed.

Hermione was a timid flyer at first - petrified of heights - but she soon caught on. It wasn't long before all four were tossing the quaffle around in the air. Harry would conjure up temporary Quidditch goal hoops and Blaise would often serve as Keeper. It was the position that he preferred and it was indeed, very difficult to get the quaffle through Blaise's skillful goal keeping.

Blaise and Hannah turned out to be both Quidditch fanatics, and Hermione and Harry often wisely sat out while the two were having "civilized" debates on which Quidditch teams were better.

Harry loved flying, but he wasn't as Quidditch-mad as those two.

* * *

Harry was sitting at his piano - the beautiful Steinway grand that he had bought - he started off with the Ballade in f minor by Chopin. There was something oddly captivating about the folk-like melody that was central to the piece. It was amazing, Harry reflected, the changes in the recurring melodies that made it recognizable but at the same time transformed into something new. Halfway through the Ballade, he began to improvise and create his own variations on that theme had him mesmerized. Dark harmonies, sometimes abrupt stylistic changes, transformed the elegant melody into a different beast altogether.

Directly above Harry was a painting of a different theme than his usual dark style. It was painting of happier times, unlike the painting of regret, or the paintings that represented Harry's darker side within. He had painted Blaise, Hannah and Hermione, excluding himself, in his flat. He tried something new this time as well. As he painted, he poured magic from his core directly through the paintbrush and onto the canvas. The resultant product was that the people within the painting were capable of movement and the gestures and habits of movement of the depicted people in real life were incorporated. It wasn't like those magical portraits that talked and moved - that was a magic of a different sort all together.

Hermione was sitting on the couch, her head in a book. Blaise and Hannah had gone off flying together again. It was autumn, after all. Blaise and Hannah wanted to make the most of the decent flying weather as possible before winter struck. Harry would typically join them, but he didn't want to leave Hermione alone, by herself.

When Harry finished his improvisation - they were brilliant as always - Hermione walked over to the musician and sat down on the wooden chair beside him.

"You aren't going to Hogwarts, aren't you?"

Harry, who had been deep in his thoughts, was startled by her question.

"I mean, when Blaise, Hannah and I start talking about Hogwarts, you have this distant expression on your face, Harry. You never contribute your thoughts to our discussions."

Hermione paused, thoughtful.

"You are as astute as always, Hermione." Harry replied, after a long moment of silence, "And your deduction is an accurate one."

"But why? Everyone is so excited about Hogwarts!" Hermione exclaimed, "Think of all the things you will miss out!"

"Hermione. What do you know about Albus Dumbledore?" Harry asked her, his manner grave.

Hermione gathered her thoughts for a bit. "That he is a brilliant and powerful wizard and he brought down Grindelwald. And that people want him as Minster."

Harry sighed. "What about, the boy who lived?"

"A little boy who caused Lord Voldemort's Killing Curse to backfire and caused him to vanish without a trace. No one seems to have any concrete ideas on where the boy is," Hermione reflected, "But wait, why are you asking me this, Harry? Oh, Merlin, God, you are the boy-who-lived, aren't you?"

Harry nodded. Hermione was sometimes too brilliant for her own good sometimes.

"What happened to you, all those years?" Hermione's shock became curiosity.

"Dumbledore happened." Harry replied grimly, "I was left on the doorsteps of my loving aunt and uncle and I was abused. Beaten up, insulted, locked in a closet – you name it. One day, when I was strong enough, I left."

Harry saw the hints of moisture in Hermione's eyes. She then replied quietly, "But why?"

"Knowing him, it's all for his own little plans and schemes at the end. My pet theory at the moment was that he intentionally left me with my hateful relatives so that they could take me down a peg or two. That way, when I enter Hogwarts – away from the abuse – I would be so grateful and humble that I can become putty in his hands." Harry replied, the coldness cutting deep like a sharp blade.

Hermione winced.

But she sat quietly for a while, while Harry's fingers began to move across the keys again. After a while, she gently pressed her hand comfortingly on Harry's arm and whispered in his ear.

"I understand."

* * *

Harry found himself walking to the same place, almost every day for a week now.

There was a gardening shop in Diagon Alley which contained blossoms, orchids and plants of kinds – magical or non-magical in addition to innumerable specimens of fungi. Harry had admired the diversity of the fauna available.

The shop was sectioned off into different themes, each enchanted with a different set of spells that created different environments for the various species in each respective division.

Harry's personal favourite were the orchids. He liked how different each species were from each other. His personal favourite at the moment was the _Phragmipedium besseae_, a red orchid with three large petals and a bottom structure that reminded him of a mouth.

The store was a haven for potion-brewers and plant lovers. Harry didn't know why he came here to the store so frequently, but his instincts have never led him astray – so he decided to be patient. The last few visits had resulted in him purchasing some plants to spruce up his flat.

Well, he knew that the store, Snares and Blossoms, was a haven for potioneers because he had ran into one Severus Snape by accident in the orchids section. Harry was knowledgeable enough in potions to know what ingredients that the Hogwarts Potions Master was looking for, judging by the plants he purchased.

Severus had made every effort to pretend that he didn't exist and rushed out of there as fast as he could, like the bat he was. Robes flapping in his haste.

_Well, beats his manner the first time. _Harry smirked at the memory.

Today, Harry decided to walk towards the back of the shop, where more dangerous plants lurked. He wasn't too familiar with Herbology so he had been reluctant to see the more wild side of the plantae and the fungi kingdoms. It wasn't long before he saw all the warning and caution signs. He also started noticing displays introducing the world of flesh eating trees and shrubs that contained acid so potent that they could dissolve bone.

He soon came face to face with chubby-cheeked blond boy who was just about to walk away from the Devil's Snare exhibit. Harry instinctively knew that the boy was the one he had been looking for – even though he didn't know how.

"You are Neville, right?"

The boy looked shocked that the stranger knew his name.

"Of the Longbottoms?"

Neville stammered, "Yes, yes. I am."

"My name is Grey, Harry Grey."

_Damn it. Hermione's Muggle movies are corrupting me!_ Harry mentally groaned when he let slip the introduction.

Harry offered his hand. Neville looked extremely confused, but he shook it anyways.

"Nice to meet you, Harry."

* * *

**A/N: **Harry's finally found Neville.

Draco's an asshole – surprise surprise. /sarcasm

Also, please forgive me if I miss little nuances that are canon. It's been ages since I've read the books and expecting me to remember every single detail would be impossible. I should also mention that I am going to go with my imagination when it comes to magical duels and transfigurations. Also, it would take a lot longer to write these chapters if I had to go reference everything.

I wrote a good section of this at work too.

: D

Review?


	8. VIII - Wingardium Leviosa

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **The bank owns my house, my principal investigator owns my work and everything recognizable on this page is owned by the esteemed J.K. Rowling.

* * *

**Chapter VIII - _Wingardium Leviosa_**

"Blaise? I have a question." Hannah caught up to the dark-haired boy who was flying over the snowy valley behind Harry's flat by accelerating on her own broom.

"What's up, Hannah?" Blaise responded casually, still maintaining his moderate speed.

"I was wondering, why do you assume that you will end up in Slytherin? We haven't even been sorted yet! You behave as if it's been set in stone or written in contract!" Hannah asked.

Her Muggle mother was a well respected lawyer and as a result, she had some knowledge in law that she had grasped from overhearing telephone conversations and from asking her mother about her days at work.

Blaise slowed down to a stop near the ground, as did Hannah.

He shrugged, "Well, if you had a mother who reminded you every day that you would be a perfect Slytherin when you go to Hogwarts, you'd be just like me."

"Does it really matter that much?" Hannah continued, "Or is it some pureblood thing that I am not aware of?"

Blaise sighed. "Well, in some families, like mine - everyone was a Slytherin. So it's kind of expected that I uphold the tradition."

"I am glad my parents don't have a preference." Hannah mused, "My daddy was a Ravenclaw."

The warmth and subject matter of Hannah's comment caught Blaise a little off guard and for a few seconds, Hannah saw Blaise's genuine emotions of distress and sadness on his face. The mask returned soon afterwards.

Blaise kicked off from the ground and soared in the air, leaving Hannah to puzzle over what had just happened.

* * *

"Why do you want me here?" A gruff man with a wooden leg, magical spinning eyeball and a partially missing nose strode into a warmly lit room.

"Sit down, Alastor, I have a proposition for you."

Mad-eye Moody grumbled before making his way to the table where the man sat, pouring tea into one teacup. He had met Ivan during his youth, and the man hadn't changed at all.

Not even a hair.

"What is it?" Moody was annoyed. Ivan was one of those people that Alastor did not understand. Alastor liked his world categorized into Dark and Light but Ivan always seemed to be in between.

It irked him to the nth degree.

"And what if I refuse?" Alastor sat down at the wooden chair across from the man.

He remembered the first time he saw Ivan, in Russia, during a complex international top-secret case. Ivan had been an informant, and provided valuable information that had closed the case. Since then, he had seen the man on and off but he had no idea that Ivan was now residing in Knockturn Alley till now.

Ivan smiled.

"Oh trust me; it's an offer you can't refuse."

Alastor looked suspiciously at the man before they launched into particulars. A magical contract was drawn up at the end. Mad-Eye looked suspiciously at the parchment and read it over - multiple times before he picked up the quill from the ink bottle.

He hesitated.

"You know?" Alastor whispered, his gruff exterior was crumbling into pieces.

Ivan nodded solemnly, "I know. She -."

Alastor held up his hand, his face was that of a broken man.

"How in bloody Merlin do you know this?"

Ivan just smiled.

Alastor closed his one good eye and signed beside Ivan's signature.

It was, unfortunately, an offer he couldn't refuse.

_Damn the man to hell!_

* * *

Shortly after acquainting himself with the timid Neville Longbottom, Harry found himself facing the formidable Longbottom matriarch. She was dressed in a vulture stuffed hat, and her ornate bright red handbag might as well provide illumination for the room had it been dark.

"Who are you talking to, Neville?"

Her voice was stern and unyielding. Neville looked extremely nervous.

After a precursory look at Lady Longbottom's mind - her defenses were well set up but Harry caught a few thoughts at the surface - Harry decided to defuse the potentially explosive situation.

He bowed and kissed Lady Augusta Longbottom's hand, in a traditional pureblooded manner. "It is an honour to meet you, Lady Longbottom."

Her stern expression immediately softened to a gentler one. "Ah, you don't see that traditional courtesy anywhere these days. Who are you?"

"I am Harry Grey, ma'am." Harry allowed a smile to grace his face, "Just making acquaintance with your grandson. He's got a fine magical core, if that is what you are worrying about."

Augusta Longbottom was astonished.

Neville had never seen the powers of speech robbed from his grandmother and he sighed in relief when Harry mentioned that he was magical. He had been extremely worried that he had too little magic to be a wizard and he had been living with that burden for many years. He didn't want to shame his family. His relatives had spent much time trying to force an ounce of magic out of him and all they got was a bounce for their efforts.

"I can sense magic, Lady Longbottom." Harry explained vaguely.

"You must be an exceptional wizard, Harry. Few can sense magic in its pure form. Call me Augusta. Lady Longbottom makes me feel my age."

Neville's jaw dropped at Harry's newly created familiarity with his grandmother.

"If you want concrete evidence that your grandson is magical," Harry continued, "I could procure him a wand that would fit his core and show him some basics."

Augusta Longbottom looked thoughtful, "That is a generous offer. I would like more time to consider, if you may."

"Owls addressed to Harry Grey will find me. Good day, Augusta, Neville." Harry nodded at the blond haired boy before leaving Snares and Blossoms.

* * *

Harry found himself looking at the mirror in his bathroom. Sometimes, he couldn't believe what he saw in the mirror. He had grown a lot taller since he left the Dursleys and decent regular meals had begun to work their magic on his body. He was still thin, but at least his bones had some fat to cushion them now. His black hair was shoulder length, and the silver hair swept over his forehead gave him a distinctive appearance that made him look older than he really was.

He was definitely glad that he had paid the rather hefty sum of money to get his eyes fixed with magic by a reputable Oculist in Diagon Alley. He had really appreciated that investment when he walked out in the rain the first time. It was nice not having the water cling to his glasses and alter the refractive index - distorting what he saw.

His physical scars from the Dursleys had all vanished, and he found himself cutting less. He found that watching human interaction was another way to feel alive. Sometimes, when he was brewing a potion, he would cut when blood was needed. Most brewers would procure apothecary grade human blood, but Harry preferred his own. Plus, stored blood had an extra ingredient in it - anti-coagulation factors - so the potions brewed weren't as potent as they ought to be. Blood sold _sans _factors was extremely expensive, as rarely known powerful spells could be used to filter the blood and remove the stuff that caused the blood to clot.

Years of dressing in baggy old clothing had caused his more stylish side to break out. He bought both Muggle and Wizarding attire. He liked to mix and match clothing from both worlds - preferring the nicely cut dress shirts of the Muggle world, and the elegant cloaks and robes of the Magical world. His colours were green, all shades of black, grey and occasionally other colours.

_:. Looking sharp there, Master..:_ Zaliss slithered in and stretched his long sinewy body over the bathroom articles. Zaliss had almost reached his full size, and was now a very intimidating creature. He was still black all over, with the silvery underbelly, but the yellow rune-looking mark on his forehead had intensified in coloration.

_If only the Dursleys could see him now._Harry permitted himself a small smile, while stretching his arms upwards.

* * *

Hannah was sitting at her desk, in her own room at home. She was laboriously writing an essay for school regarding equal rights issues. Her mind was somewhere else, but her reverie was broken when she heard sharp taps on her window.

An unfamiliar owl - a Northern Hawk Owl, with a white and brown spotted body and greyish-black markings on white feathers on its head was knocking on her window with its darkish yellow beak.

Hannah got up from her simple wooden chair, and opened the window to let the owl in. The owl elegantly stuck out its talons and Hannah untied the piece of parchment. She ran downstairs to the kitchen to fetch water and some leftover meat scraps from previous meals. The owl trilled happily when she got back, immediately sticking its parched beak into the water bowl.

She unfolded the parchment. She recognized Blaise's elegant looking scrawl on the page. (I.e. it looked nice, but was sometimes difficult to make out.)

_Dear Hannah,_

I am sorry I ditched you the other day at the valley. When you were talking about your father, I saw how your face lit up. It's clear that you have an awesome relationship with your Dad, and I envy you for that. I wish that I had a proper Father, not those temporary flings my mother goes through and discards away with no more importance than banana peels. It would even be nice to know the identity of the man who begot me.

Your friend,  
Blaise

PS. This is my owl, Aaron.

Hannah smiled sadly at the letter, before composing her own reply back, her essay that was due the next day, long forgotten.

* * *

Harry was waiting beside the fireplace, at the Leaky Cauldron. Today was a quiet day there, with only a few regulars - Harry and his companions ate there very often, and were familiar with the frequent customers. He drummed his long, pale fingers impatiently along the rock of the fireplace. Surely enough, a few days after his encounter with the Longbottoms, Augusta had owled him, saying that she would like to accept his kind offer and that she would be bringing her grandson, today.

The flames suddenly turned green, and flashed.

Augusta Longbottom, with the same hat and handbag strode through, with all the finesse expected of a Lady. Her grandson stumbled out, wiping the soot off his clothes. Harry walked over to receive them, greeting Augusta the same way he did back at Snares and Blossoms.

"It's a delight to see you, Harry." Augusta smiled, "Here's Neville."

"Hi, Harry." Neville shyly greeted. Harry nodded.

"I am just curious, Harry - where did you learn your magic from? You can't be that much older than my Neville here." Augusta asked the dark-haired boy.

Harry replied, "I am home-schooled. My guardian looks after all my lessons and I think, I have the aptitude to help Neville."

Lady Longbottom accepted his answer. "Well, Neville doesn't have many friends - he's too shy. I hope you could help in that regards too. Well, time's a-flying. See you later, Harry, Neville." She stepped back towards the Floo, and was off in a flash of fire.

* * *

Harry first took his new charge, Neville, back to his flat, where Hermione was, predictably, reading another book from Harry's filled shelves. He introduced Neville to Hermione. Before Neville could make his greetings back, a silver wolf dashed across the room to sniff at him and the long snake slithered over to see who the newcomer was.

Neville was extremely startled.

"Now, now, guys. Behave." Harry admonished his two familiars.

Heidi ignored him, and Zaliss answered by sticking out his tongue directly at Harry.

He merely shook his head at the immature behavior of his pets.

"Don't worry Neville. They are harmless." Hermione looked amused at the proceedings and placed her Egyptian themed gilded bookmark in the book she was reading. She set it aside.

"Wow, you own a snake and a wolf." Neville recovered his powers of speech, "Cool."

_;.._ _Hello, Neville, we are sorry that we startled you..;_Heidi projected her thoughts to Neville, ;..I am Heidi, and I am communicating with you via the mind..;

;.. Oh neat. Can you hear me?..; Neville tried thinking.

Heidi smiled a fearsome grin. _;.. Of course, Neville..;_

"So are you ready to get your wand, Neville?" Harry asked. Hermione had retrieved her own cloak, woolly mittens, a cheerful white and red scarf and woolen hat.

"Yeah. I can't wait." Neville smiled at his two friends.

The three exited, Heidi followed them. Zaliss returned his spot beside the fire and wondered why the hell anyone would bother going outside in the harsh winter weather.

* * *

It didn't take long for Neville to find his wand - Cherry wood with unicorn hair - thirteen inches. Neville had paid for the wand - five Galleons, and thanked Ivan profusely for his generosity. Neville knew that wands actually cost a lot more than the price that was offered, especially for the best quality wands.

The three spent the next few hours wandering around the shops. Hermione bought herself some potions supplies as the storage cupboard that Harry had set aside for their potion needs was running low. Neville bought himself a fine eagle feather with a fine nib as his new quill and Harry treated all of them to a steaming cup of apple cider inside one of the lesser cafes around Diagon Alley.

Finally, they went to Neville's favourite shop - Snares and Blossoms, where he was at his element. Neville explained to a rapt Hermione about some of the plants both magical and mundane that he knew about and the plants that were growing in his own garden back at the Longbottom House.

Harry was surprised at the change that came to Neville when he was talking about things that he knew - it was almost as if there was a second Neville.

* * *

"Okay, so we are going to teach you one charm today." Hermione started when they were all back at the flat.

"A swish and flick." Harry added. He drew a quick sketch of the movements with a blue Muggle marker on a white board that he had recently procured. Neville's eyes widened at the convenience of the Muggle invention.

Harry remembered how in awe Blaise had behaved when he first saw the white board. Hermione couldn't stop laughing at his flabbergasted reaction.

"The incantation is _Wingardium Leviosa._Put an extra emphasis on the G of "gardium"." Hermione was in lecture mode.

"It should look like this." Harry lazily flicked his wand at the quill that they were supposed to levitate. He made Neville smile when Harry moved the feather around Hermione and used it to tickle her nose.

"Hey! Harry! Stop it!" Hermione looked indignantly at her friend, while waving her hands frantically in order to grab the feather. The feather was always one step ahead of Hermione's grabbing hands.

It floated away. Neville reached for it and plucked it out of the air and handed it back to Hermione.

Hermione summoned her wand from her holster with the snap of her fingers. "Harry likes to show off, but we normal folks do it like this. _Wingardium Leviosa_." She swished and flicked in a textbook perfect manner.

The feather rose two meters from its initial starting point.

"You try." Hermione brought the quill down and handed it to Neville. He placed it on the table and pointed his wand to the feather.

Neville looked a little nervous, but he imitated Hermione's precise movements.

Nothing happened.

"Try again." Hermione smiled at the nervous boy, "It took me a few attempts too."

"Try picturing what you want to do with the feather too. That's the most important aspect, contrary to what most people would say." Harry added.

Neville tried a few more times. After what was probably the tenth try, his feather shot up three meters in the air. Neville beamed as the others congratulated him on his first charm.

"Okay now, practice is done. Let's go have dinner." Harry took the feather from Neville when he cancelled his charm on the feather. "Also, when you are at home, try seeing if you could move the feather around and try levitating heavier objects. The step after that would be to levitate multiple objects, and then to move them independently, yet at the same time."

Hermione nudged Neville, "Don't worry; even I haven't gotten the last part of what he said down. It's really confusing."

* * *

Neville came back the next week, beaming when he was able to show Hermione and Harry that he could make the feather do what he willed. He also showed off his skills by levitating a watermelon that Harry had bought from the local Tesco's. He was introduced to Blaise and Hannah and the five of them celebrated by having a snowball fight. They all forfeited when Harry charmed his snowballs to stalk them. When the snowballs came within a certain range of their stalk-ee, they would launch themselves at their victims with sniper-like accuracy.

They were all happy with the introduction of Neville to their little group. Hermione was happy that they had someone who knew Herbology very well, since no one else knew too much about it. Neville quickly caught up in spellwork, although potions and transfiguration were not his strong points. Fortunately, Harry had set up some new wards in the brewing area, designed to protect the brewer during potentially hazardous explosions that were always a given risk during brewing.

After much cajoling, Augusta Longbottom finally bought her grandson a broomstick, so he could join the others. Like Hermione, Neville was a cautious flyer and did not have the stomach for the stunts Blaise and Harry pulled off. Augusta had also bought Neville, Trevor the frog, after he showed her his levitation charm. Neville had told Hermione and Harry that his grandma had been thrilled at his first deliberate attempt at magic, but muttered something condescending about Charms when she thought Neville was out of hearing range.

Spring came quickly, as did Hannah's birthday. Everyone chipped in to buy her a broom so she didn't have to borrow her father's old broom. The group started to work a little harder, seeing that it wasn't long until Hogwarts.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House and Deputy Headmistress walked along the sidewalk, dressed in her Muggle-best on one of the warmest days of June. Everything she wore had her trademark tartan pattern. Ever since her little argument with Albus about his placement of Harry, the Headmaster and the Deputy's relationship had become rather strained. Minerva had begged Albus to check on Harry regularly, but the obstinate, elderly wizard had found innumerable excuses and never did.

But today, she was making calls to future wizards and witches that had grown up from traditionally non-magical families. She finally found the large house that belonged to the Grangers and politely rang the doorbell.

Wendell and Jane Granger answered the door, both of them knowing with almost 100 percent certainty the reason of the visit. They could tell that Minerva was a witch, judging by the way she was dressed and that Hermione had warned them beforehand.

Hermione had found out that Hogwarts traditionally sent teachers to the Muggle parents of magical offspring to assure them that no, magic was not a joke and to convince them to send their children to the castle for their future education from reading Hogwarts: A History. In fact, Hermione had read that book so many times that her copy was starting to become a little dog-eared.

"Wendell and Jane Granger?" Minerva inquired when the couple opened the door.

"That's us." Jane Granger responded.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, of Hogwarts. I am here to tell you that your daughter is -" Minerva started.

Wendell held out his hand, "Magical. We know."

It was Minerva McGonagall's turn to look surprised.

"One of our distantly related relatives came and told us." Jane explained, "We were so relieved. Hermione's been doing little magical displays since she could crawl."

"Ah. Then I presume she will be attending Hogwarts in September?" Minerva asked, regaining her equilibrium.

Wendell answered, "I suppose so. She's been talking non-stop about it."

He was a little glum that his little girl would be going off to a world that neither he nor his wife had a part of. But at the same time, he was excited for her that she would get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

He sighed. His wife gave him a knowing look.

"Alright then, here's Hermione's Hogwarts letter and ticket for the Hogwarts Express. Her book lists and other equipment required will be written on there." The severe looking Transfiguration professor handed an envelope of old fashioned brown parchment with the Hogwarts crest as the seal.

Wendell Granger took the offered envelope, "We will give this to her as soon as she comes home from school."

Minerva McGonagall allowed herself a rare smile, and bade her good-byes to the Grangers.

* * *

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL __of__ WITCHCRAFT __and__ WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizar__ds)_

_Dear Mr. Harry James Potter,__  
_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts, School of Wtichcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Minerva __McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress__  
_  
Harry frowned at the letter.

He had been bombarded by the overeager barn owl delivering him the letter when he had been dining outdoors with Blaise at a Wizarding Italian restaurant somewhere in Diagon Alley. Blaise had received his letter five minutes earlier, from a similar species of excited owl.

He sighed. He opened the letter when he had gotten home; it was a dangerous piece of document to keep around him, since very little of what he owned could connect him to his real identity. Plus, he had warded his flat against owls, in an effort to ensure the letter never got to him.

He flicked his finger and felt the familiar feeling of his wand in his hand.

"_Incendio_."

The hottest of his silver-blue flames streamed out of his wand and incinerated the parchments to ashes.

* * *

**A/N: **We are getting closer to Hogwarts. Minerva isn't too happy with our good friend Dumbledore. And what in bloody hell is Ivan doing to Moody?

Thanks for to my younger sister for looking over my work and for all her and everyone else's encouragement.

Review?


	9. IX - The Hogwarts Express

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **I don't own HP. JK does.

**Note: **Re. Chapter Five and the "licked by his master" comment: Licked is slang for thrashed thoroughly. Just a mention since more than two people mentioned this to me.

* * *

**Chapter IX - The Hogwarts Express**

_Gringotts Break-in Latest_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing has been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we are not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon. _

"Merlin, Harry, what do you think this is about?" Blaise looked at the _Daily Prophet, _while picking up a slice of bacon from his plate with a fork.

Harry pulled the paper across towards him. He glanced at it.

"Sounds like a suicidal mission," Harry mused. From his trips underground, Harry had seen the plethora of enchantments and cunning measures employed by the goblins. They took safety to an extreme, "I am surprised they haven't caught the person who did it. It's been at least a week."

Blaise grabbed back his newspaper.

"I wonder what was in that vault. Good thing someone emptied it before the theft occurred."

The conversation shifted to the less serious articles in the _Daily Prophet._

* * *

Minerva McGonagall, sitting at her office desk, was sorting through the confirmation letters from all the first years. It was a pretty dull task, as most of those accepted to Hogwarts would attend.

A dark piece of parchment edged in real gold, written in the professional Gringotts font in blood red ink caught her eye.

_Dear Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, _

_We regret to inform you that the guardian of Mr. Harry James Potter has decided that other forms of education would be more suitable to his charge. This decision is valid under Family Decree 73: Section E: The guardian of a magical ward may determine what education their ward receives so long as the ward take and pass the Ordinary Wizarding Levels before he or she becomes of age._

_Our best regards and wishes,_

_Hurst_

_Head Goblin, Keeper of the Keys, Speaker of the House of Goblins (HoG)_

_Gringotts _

The parchment dissolved in golden sparks after she had read the last word. Minerva knew that Harry's name would be automatically struck from the Book that held all past and future students' names.

She frowned. It wasn't unusual to receive declines from pureblooded and Muggle families but what was unusual was that a Gringotts Anonymous letter was utilized. What was even odder was that the letter had been signed personally by the Head of Gringotts, which was a sign that the guardian of Harry was either a highly valued client (filthy rich) or had connections to the world of goblins in a way only wizards could dream of.

Not even Albus could get an audience with the Head Goblin of Gringotts.

She stopped what she was doing and reflected. It wouldn't do to tell Albus about this - he was just going to get worse with his meddling and decimate the deteriorating relationship between wizard kind and goblins even further. Albus had never really gotten along with the goblins.

She began to think. Maybe it would be an excellent idea to get her friend and colleague Filius involved. He, too, had disagreed with Dumbledore on his decisions pertaining to the young Potter.

Plus, he might have a few connections.

* * *

Neville, Hannah, Blaise and Hermione were sitting around Harry's living room, eagerly discussing their soon-to-be departure to Hogwarts tomorrow. A few days ago, all five had gone out to go shopping, the four going to Hogwarts got whatever they were missing for school, and Harry had finally bought a snowy owl - Hedwig, after Blaise complained that he was unreachable.

After Harry had received his Hogwarts letter, he removed the owl-repelling ward, so that the others could send him stuff - even though for letters – they had usually resorted to the email system of their laptops. In addition, Harry was getting annoyed that he had to have his owl-catalogue ordered items sent to either Hannah's, Blaise's or Neville's homes in order to get them.

The four stopped their conversation when Harry stepped out of his room. He held four black leather covered books under his arm.

"I have a present for each of you, in honour of your debuts at Hogwarts." Harry walked towards the couches. He handed each one an expensive looking leather bound book filled with high-quality parchment pages.

Hermione flipped hers open. It was blank.

"A notebook?" Neville examined his book.

Harry sighed. "These are books that I spent months charming. They are each keyed to your magical signature, so that only the owner may read it. Other people will see something mundane like notes on a lecture or something like that on these pages. I have one too. If you wish to write a message to anyone with one of these, all you have to do is write the person's name, followed by a dash and the message you wish to send. The words will appear as written on the receiver's page."

"Wow. That's awesome." Hannah looked at hers. She procured a quill that was lying on the coffee table, summoned an ink bottle and dipped her feather into the ink.

She wrote: _Hermione - This is AWESOME!_

Hermione opened her notebook. Surely enough, on the first page, Hannah's characteristic neat handwriting appeared. Instead of the writing tagged to Hermione, Hannah's name replaced it.

"Blimey." Neville looked from Hannah's book to Hermione's, "You could go patent these and make a bloody fortune right here."

Harry smiled at the pleased expression of his friends. "Also if you wish to remove a message, just tap your wand on the page and say_ Message Received. _If you are the sender, say _Message Sent._"

"Wow, this is just like those high-tech gadgets in Muggle spy thriller movies. Thanks Harry." Hannah held her book against her torso, both arms hugging the precious gift.

The others all expressed their thanks as well, with Hermione and Hannah giving Harry a friendly hug.

"Neville, Hannah, there's something else I wish to tell you. Hermione and Blaise already know." Harry said, after all the thanks were doled out, "I think your Occlumency skills have progressed far enough to know the truth."

Neville and Hannah looked wide-eyed at their friend, while Blaise and Hermione were still examining their notebooks.

"My real name is actually Harry James Potter."

* * *

While the four friends were heading for the Nine and Three-Quarters platform at King's Cross station, Harry was at Ivan's wand shop. Yesterday, he had spent the rest of the afternoon explaining to Hannah and Neville about the events of his childhood, and both of them had been horrified that the great Albus Dumbledore had allowed such a horrific thing to happen.

They had all agreed that they would discreetly observe the Headmaster, and report anything fishy in their notebooks to Harry. Harry had insisted that they be very cautious in their attempts at espionage and to avoid eye contact with the Headmaster and his pet Potions Master at all times.

Today was his first official day of lessons. When he entered Ivan's flat upstairs, the oriental man was sitting at the same spot he always occupied when they had their weekly tea.

Harry walked over to the chair across from Ivan. He pulled it out and sat down. Neither of them spoke or moved for at least an hour. The seconds ticked by and stretched into minutes. The silence was almost unbearable. Harry spent the hour imagining what Neville, Hannah, Hermione and Blaise were doing on the _Hogwarts Express _as well as wondering what kinds of things did Ivan have store for him.

When the hour was up, Ivan stood up from his chair.

"I am pleased you have patience. That is a most imperative trait to have, Harry. In order to survive, it is of utmost importance that you take your time to choose your moves carefully. Rash moves can lead to undue pain and suffering and can put into jeopardy the things you hold most dear. But at the same time, you must not hesitate - for he who hesitates is lost. Remember this."

Ivan waited as the boy processed his words. When Harry nodded, Ivan continued on.

"Your first tutors will show up tomorrow. There's just a few things you will have to do today to prepare for tomorrow."

* * *

Against Dumbledore's previous orders, Professors McGonagall and Flitwick, the Head of Ravenclaw House, former Champion Duelist and the current Charms Master of Hogwarts set off for Little Whinging, Surrey, on the early morning of September first for a little investigation. The tall, energetic but severe looking lady and the short, part goblin but impeccably dressed man was a comical contrast in the very normal neighbourhood.

The two of them had apparated without a sound, behind a large tree in a Muggle park, nearby. It had taken them a few minutes before they found Privet Drive and a few more to find the Dursleys' house. Minerva noted that the house hadn't changed much at all since she had first set foot on the property almost ten years ago.

When they both got to the door, Minerva rang the doorbell, while Filius noted that all the wards that Albus had supposedly placed around the house had all fallen.

He feared the worst.

* * *

Blaise walked along the corridor, noting with annoyance that all of them were full. Unlike the other first years he saw scurrying and lugging their heavy trunks with difficulty around him; he had levitated his heavy trunk and had it follow him, giving the others an impression that he was an upper year student. Heidi, the silver wolf followed him. She attracted curious glances from the other students.

Harry had insisted that the four take Heidi just in case something happens. He had also reassured them that as long as she acted as one of their magically bonded familiars, the teachers will have no reason to say nay. Heidi had chosen Blaise as her caretaker, seeing that he had known her the longest.

Blaise finally stopped at the empty Compartment Y. Heidi leapt up and curled up on one of the seats. As he was stowing his trunk away under the seats, he heard a familiar friendly voice.

"Hey Blaise, I see you found us a compartment." Neville walked in. Instead of a levitation charm, Neville had used a less noticeable lightening charm, and had manually carried it through the throngs of pupils. He stashed his trunk under the seat across from Blaise. His frog poked out of his pocket.

It croaked.

"They sure do fill up quickly," Blaise muttered as he got up from his kneeling position, "Platform wasn't hard to find, was it?"

"Oh, my gran knew where it was." Neville explained.

"Ah," Blaise replied with dry humour, "My mom didn't even bother coming into King's Cross with me today, so I had to discreetly try putting my arm through several pillars between platforms nine and ten to find the bloody entrance without looking like a bloody idiot. It didn't help that I arrived early and no one was vanishing through any magical pillars."

Neville chuckled at Blaise's misfortune.

"Hey guys!" Hermione's excited voice interrupted their conversation, "So it's the big day!"

"Indeed," Blaise remarked dryly, "I hope the food trolley gets here soon."

Hermione sighed as she placed her trunk beside Neville's, "When are you not hungry?"

"My gran made us some sandwiches." Neville removed a brown packet from his trunk.

Blaise brightened. "I am so glad we are friends."

"You are so unusual sometimes, Blaise," Hermione poked fun at her friend.

Blaise smirked, "I aim to please." He then paused and looked like he was trying to remember something. "Hmm... I think I saw something odd today, or I could be just crazy."

"What was odd?" Hannah had just entered the compartment and put away her luggage. She had her laptop under one arm. She took the seat beside Heidi and started stroking her soft fur while mentally exchanging a greeting with her. She had also booted up her laptop.

"I saw a gaggle of ginger haired kids and a matronly looking woman while looking for the bloody pillar. They looked like they were waiting for someone, or something. They all had trunks and animals, so they were probably bound for Hogwarts. They didn't even have the courtesy of pointing me to the right pillar." Blaise grumbled, while Neville handed him a turkey sandwich.

He bit into it.

"Well, they could be waiting for their friends or something," Hannah, ever the optimist, provided an explanation.

"Bloody Merlin, where did Trevor go?" Neville dropped his packet of sandwiches on his seat and started looking for his pet.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was seething when she left the ordinary house at number four Privet Drive. Filius was also furious, but he hid it better.

"The nerve of those Muggles!"

Filius had never seen such anger radiate from the normally stoic Minerva. It was like someone had awoken the lion within her.

"You saw what they did to Harry when he was under their care before he ran away." Minerva looked at her more composed friend. "Filius, don't look so calm, I know you used Legilimency on them too!"

"Minerva, I didn't even know you knew Legilimency." Filius tried to change the topic – they could discuss this later when they were safe at their own quarters at Hogwarts, or another spot where there wasn't Muggles everywhere.

What they had discovered at the Dursleys was appalling. When they had been let in by Harry's Aunt Petunia, the couple had tried to be as pleasant as they could to the professors. But their disdain for magic could clearly be inferred by their tone of voice. They had also blamed Harry for running away or in Vernon's words:

"That boy, we fed and clothed him for eight years, and he showed us his gratitude by running away!"

When Filius had asked them about any attempts to find their nephew, the couple blanched. That was the opportune moment when both Minerva and Filius utilized their Legilimency skills since they had both rapidly came to the conclusion that both Petunia and Vernon were lying.

They saw the years of abuse, torment, beatings, humiliations and neglect. Filius had recovered his wits first, and immediately modified both the Dursleys' memories with a well-placed _Obliviate_ and did a little memory modification to fill in the gaps_._ It wouldn't do for Dumbledore to know that Minerva and he had been sneaking behind the Headmaster's back. He steered the shell-shocked Minerva out of the house, and locked the door behind him with a bit of magic.

Filius was personally impressed by the silver flames that Harry had conjured wandlessly at will shortly before fleeing from his own personal Hell. He made a mental note to offer Harry dueling lessons if they ever found him.

When the pair reached the secluded tree, they apparated to Hogsmeade to prepare for the first day of classes. They would have to decide on step two on a later date.

* * *

"Neville, are you a wizard or not?" Hannah looked exasperated at her friend and her other friends while they were searching the compartment for Trevor, "Your wand!"

Neville looked sheepishly at Hannah before twitching his index finger. His wand appeared, "Right. _Accio Trevor!"_

Although the summoning spell was a fourth year spell, the four had mastered it since they found it useful. Blaise was usually too lazy to get up to get things, so the summoning charm became his best friend. Neville and Hannah kept misplacing things, so that charm was a life-saver. Hermione, well, she mastered it because she was a glutton for knowledge and a combination of the above reasons.

A green frog whizzed in the air through their open compartment door and landed in Neville's hand.

Before they could all sigh in relief, a platinum blond boy strode into their compartment, flanked by what Muggles would call the "muscle". Blaise looked annoyed.

"Ah, Blaise, I finally found you." Draco's drawl penetrated the silence that had fallen in the room.

Heidi growled.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle." Draco gestured to each goon in turn while disregarding all the indicators that hinted that he wasn't welcome, "And you are stuck here with a couple of blood traitors and, what's this? A mudblood?" He looked pointedly at Hermione.

Hermione looked furious. Her voice was cold. "What did you say, Malfoy?"

"I said you were a –"

Blaise interrupted, quickly defending his friend. "I will have you know, Draco, that Hermione has an ancestry that would rival yours or mine. She has Perevell blood flowing in her veins."

Draco looked astonished for a few seconds before pretending that he hadn't been interrupted, "And Longbottom, I heard you were almost a Squib. Tut, tut, Blaise, the company you keep is –"

"_Flipendo!" _ Draco found himself flying backwards and hitting the closed off compartment across the corridor. Neville was furious.

Blaise, Hannah and Hermione immediately grabbed Neville's wand arm and tried to get him to calm down. Crabbe and Goyle looked dumbly at each other before rushing forward to take revenge only to be met at wandpoint by an angry Hermione and an equally incensed Blaise.

"Back off, or you will get worse than your ringleader here." Blaise snarled while using a Muggle allusion.

"I might just sic these two on you guys." Hannah warned while she was struggling to restrain Neville's wand arm, while her other hand was grabbing desperately on to the wriggling scruff of Heidi's neck.

Looking unnerved, Crabbe and Goyle backed off, and picked up their dazed, but quickly returning to conscious leader off the ground.

It took a while for the steam to cool off.

* * *

Harry was laboriously writing down the name of every spell, curse, charm, jinx, hex, and etc down on a very long piece of parchment that he had to keep magically expanding. Ivan had provided him with a box of quills and a piece of parchment. Harry had picked one of the quills up, made a face, and put it back, only to repeat the same set of actions with the other quills he picked up. There was just an odd feeling about those quills.

After the tenth quill, Harry was satisfied. Ivan had immediately stopped him there.

"Why did you pick that quill?"

Harry shrugged, "It felt right. It's hard to explain."

"Come on, Harry, details." Ivan sighed.

Harry's brilliant response had been, "It felt funny; the other nine quills I picked up."

Ivan had shrugged before giving him the assignment. Harry looked a little put down and slightly confused about the quills that Ivan had provided.

"It's for your Defence Instructor tomorrow; he wishes to know what you know." Ivan explained, "Don't worry, the fun stuff comes later."

"Who is my Defence Instructor?" Harry had inquired.

Ivan smiled, "Ah, he was one of your father's closest friends. You will see tomorrow. In fact, you will meet several of your instructors tomorrow."

Harry sighed, knowing that Ivan wasn't going to reveal any more information at that point. That man seemed to thrive off keeping people in suspense.

* * *

By the end of the second hour, all four had taken turns to go to the loo and change into their crestless Hogwarts robes and white shirts. When Neville returned, he remarked to Blaise, who had changed first.

"You know, I think I know who those ginger haired people you were talking about earlier. In fact, I saw them pacing around when I went through the pillar with my Gran. But I didn't think it was too much out of the ordinary, except that the train was going to leave soon and that they ought to get going."

Blaise mused, "Do you? I haven't got a clue."

"They are the Weasleys. I remember my Gran talking about them. They are purebloods, have lots of children, and flaming red hair." Neville remembered.

A light shone in Blaise's eyes in recognition. "Ah. Yes, I believe they are quite poor but dominant supporters for the Light. I remember my mother talking about them – she didn't like them too much."

Blaise helped himself to a Pumpkin Pastie that the group had purchased earlier. In fact, it was safe to say that between the four of them, they had bought out at least half of what the Trolley Woman had on hand. Neville petted his frog and helped himself to a green coloured jellybean in the naive hope that it would be lime.

"Blech, snot!" Neville spat out the bean into a napkin and immediately tossed it aside. Blaise promptly vanished the crumpled piece of trash out of being.

Blaise nodded knowingly, "I haven't been having too much luck with those either. Have you ever had vomit? I thought I'd throw up there and then."

Neville shuddered, while Blaise broke out his deck of Exploding Snap cards and started dealing for four people for when Hannah and Hermione came back.

* * *

**A/N: **Harry hasn't learned much today, but it's all coming soon. Remus is one of my favourite characters, so he will be making his first appearance soon as evidenced by the not so subtle hint above. Minerva and Filius are scheming around Dumbledore to try to right some wrongs that they think he has committed. I also know that the snippet from the Daily Prophet above didn't show up until Hogwarts started but it seemed to fit.

Note regarding the Deathly Hallows – I deliberately used Deathstick, and the Ring of Resurrection because they were rumors and legends that Harry was picking up. I know they are the Stone and the Elder Wand.

Review?


	10. X - The Sorting

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Enough with the disclaimers already! I don't own it! HP that is.

* * *

**Chapter X - The Sorting**

"Merlin, is that Hogwarts?" Hannah gasped from the window of their compartment, only to be interrupted by a miniature explosion of an Exploding Snap card.

The other three abandoned their game and joined Hannah in front of the window. It was late afternoon, and patches of sunshine pierced through what was a cloudy day. The rays of the star illuminated the dark silhouette of the enormous, but majestic towers that made up Hogwarts.

"I mean I've read all about it," Hermione could barely contain her awe.

Blaise added, "And I heard all about it."

"Mere words can't describe this." Neville offered his thoughts.

"And we get to live there for the next seven years." Hannah smiled but continued on a more worrisome subject, "But I am not looking forward to those moody staircases that my dad told me about."

"No kidding, sometimes, if they are in a foul mood, they will trip you! Woe to those who are late for class." Blaise replied rather ominously, remembering a few horror stories from past relations.

"Well, we will just have to see for ourselves, then." Hermione ventured bravely, "I mean it would be all over the _Daily Prophet_ if someone died from injuries inflicted by staircases."

With that happy thought, the four went to go put away Blaise's cards.

* * *

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Hagrid's loud voice boomed across the tiny, rather grimy platform.

"That's us." Blaise shivered, despite the warm cloak he had put on. Hermione sympathetically placed a warming charm on his clothing.

"Thanks, Hermione."

"C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind your step – now! Firs' years follow me!" The four peered up to see the rich but unruly beard of the half-giant gatekeeper.

They slipped and stumbled along a narrow path that was so steep that it was almost orthogonal. Hagrid held an enormous lantern in front of him – providing the only source of artificial light that accompanied the moon and the stars above. Hannah almost tripped, but Neville and Blaise quickly grabbed on to her arms to steady her. Heidi loped easily alongside them.

"Careful there," Neville whispered in her ear.

"Are those trees? It's so dark, I can't make out anything." Hermione asked, looking from side to side, only to be met with solid darkness.

The others shrugged. It wasn't long before a collective gasp went out from the crowd of first years when the lake and the lit windows of the castle came into view.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid gestured towards a raggedy fleet of boats bobbing up and down in the dark waters. Hermione rolled her eyes at the method of transportation to be undertaken.

Blaise got to a boat first, and held it steady, while Neville, Hannah, Hermione and Heidi jumped aboard. He then clambered on, the boat rocking dangerously with each of his movements.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid had commandeered the head boat, "Right then, - forward!"

On their own accord, the boats began to make their way towards Hogwarts.

"Well, at least we don't have to row across by ourselves." Blaise observed cheerfully.

Neville grumbled, "Bloody hell, we might as well all fail out of Hogwarts, right here."

He earned a laugh from his three fellow boat-mates.

* * *

For dinner, Harry was extremely perplexed that Ivan had set out five spoons and ten forks on his side of the table. It didn't help much that the first course of dinner was soup. Harry suspected that there was something up with the multiples theme that he had been seeing. He was tempted to take the bowl, and slurp down the contents, but that would just probably earn him a reprimand about manners.

He sighed. He surveyed the five spoons in front of him. They were all made out of stainless steel, all flawlessly clean and clearly made from the same design.

When his hand reached for the spoon at the left, he felt his fingers tingle. He moved his hand to the next one, and received the same sensation. The second spoon to the right seemed benign. He tested all the other spoons, before reluctantly picking up the second spoon.

He picked it up.

Nothing happened, so Harry proceeded to enjoy his French onion soup, which was one of Ivan's specialties. He noticed that his mentor had been looking intently at him during the entire process.

The main course appeared after the soup bowl vanished. Grilled salmon and assorted Asianic vegetables greeted Harry's eyes.

He scanned the ten forks beside his plate. Like the spoons, each fork was identical – there weren't even any blemishes to distinguish the forks from each other.

Harry decided on another tactic, rather than the feeling method that he had been employing all afternoon. He concentrated on his magic within, and placed his hand over the selection of cutlery without touching the metal. Using a technique similar to "seeing" with magic, he spread his magic over the forks by using his palm as an outlet.

He detected miniscule tendrils of magic – not the dark tangles that he saw in cursed objects – attached to nine of the forks. He was able to discern that the seventh fork from his plate had no magic traces attached to it. He picked it up.

The process took no longer than half a second, compared to the awkward minutes that took him to figure out which spoon was harmless.

Ivan's eyes widened.

Like the soup, Harry ate, pretending that there was nothing absurd about the meal, while his guardian looked deep in thought as he took an elegant nibble from a piece of bok choy.

Fortunately for Harry, there was only one dessert spoon to choose from.

* * *

After a succinct explanation from Professor McGonagall, all the first years were gathered together in a rather dimly lit room that was an offshoot of the Entrance Hall. A babble of voices broke out.

"Sorted into houses? How do you reckon that's going to happen?"

"I heard it hurts a lot," A rather frightened first year squeaked.

Another exclaimed, "But we don't know anything!"

"Maybe we have to fight a dragon!"

The speculations became more and more absurd with every passing second. Blaise straightened up his cloak, and cancelled Hermione's warming charm now that they were indoors, while Neville refastened the clasp on his cloak. Hermione ran her fingers over her windswept hair, while Hannah picked lint off her clothes. They looked highly amused by the surrounding chatter.

Suddenly, there was a scream, as translucent ghosts emerged from the solid walls that encased them. Even Hermione, Blaise, Neville and Hannah felt their hearts thumping in their chests, despite knowing that ghosts were a common appearance at Hogwarts.

"Ah, new students!" the Fat Friar's voice echoed around the small room, "Hope you will be in Hufflepuff, my old house, you know."

The ghosts vanished when Professor McGonagall returned. She ordered them to form a straight line and marched them in solemnly back out the Hall and through the ornate double doors to the most spectacular scene that none of the first years probably had ever seen.

It was incredibly hard to believe that the charmed ceiling wasn't the real sky stretching out to infinity and beyond. Candles were everywhere, but the colours of the flames were a warm orangey-red instead of the silver flames that lit the candles back at Harry's flat. There were four main tables, placed vertically in perspective of the first years, and a horizontal table, placed on an elevated platform, that served as the teachers' table.

"Ah, here's my future head of house." Blaise pointed out to the rather dour man who seemed to be scowling at his plate.

Neville added, "Seems like a pleasant fixture here at Hogwarts."

But everyone's attention was then directed to the four-legged stool that Professor McGonagall had brought out from somewhere, and an old battered hat rested on top of the chair. Suddenly, much to the shock of many of the first years, it twitched before bursting into song.

"_Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black, _

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_If you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning, _

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin _

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (although I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The crowd burst into wild applause, while a first year whispered the obvious, "My god, that cap is alive!"

The hat lowered its tip politely to every one of the house tables, and applause began anew. It took some time for the noise to die down, but when it did, Professor McGonagall spoke.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

Blaise, Hermione and Neville gave their friend the thumbs up, and the blonde haired girl strode bravely to the stool. She gently lifted the hat off the chair and sat down, plunking the hat down on her braids.

"Hmm... my dear girl, I see an ounce of brains in there, with a drop of courage. Ah, but your loyalty remains at the forefront, so better be a HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hannah, who had been frozen during her time on the stool, just realized that the hat had shouted out its last word to the entire audience. She placed the hat down and walked to her new House table, who was clapping madly for her. She tossed a smile to the beaming Fat Friar floating at the end of the table, before another first year Hufflepuff, Susan, sat down beside her.

"Hey, I am Hannah," the blonde haired girl smiled at the redhead who sat down.

Susan gave her a grin, "I am Susan."

The two girls exchanged pleasantries while greeting the newly arrived Justin Finch-Fletchley.

"Oh look, it's my friend!" Hannah pointed them towards Hermione, who was about to walk to the stool.

* * *

"Granger, Hermione."

Hermione dashed to the stool in her eagerness and rammed the hat on her head.

"My, my, a live one. Brains, lots of raw magical talent – insatiable thirst for knowledge - RAVENCLAW!"

Hermione ran to join her table – decorated with blue and bronze. She was immediately greeted by several of the older years, and a few of the new Ravenclaws – Terry, Mandy, Stephen, and Anthony.

"Ah, my mom was a witch, and my father was a Muggle – could you imagine how it went when she told him what she was?" Anthony, a boy with short blond hair, said to the guffaws of the occupants of the table.

"I am a halfblood as well," Mandy Brocklehurst smiled, "What about you Hermione?"

"Me too," Hermione replied back, "But why does it matter?"

Terry grinned, "It doesn't really matter here, but if any of you are Muggle-born, don't go mouthing that around that lot over there." He pointed to the Slytherins, "My dad said they've got prejudices there. Even the halfbloods keep silent back when he was at school."

* * *

"Longbottom, Neville!"

Neville, with one hand gripping on Trevor who was hiding in his pocket, walked solemnly over to the hat. He lifted it up, and sat down. Blaise gave him a smile.

"Talented young man, aren't you? Already taken a bully down a peg on the _Hogwarts Express_? Hmm... Plenty of courage and daring in your heart, indeed, you are a true GRYFFINDOR!"

Everyone at the Gryffindor table was clapping as Neville was declared a Gryffindor. He was greeted by two redheads that looked identical, down to their cheerful freckled faces.

"I am Fred."

"And I am George, the better looking twin."

That earned him a smack from the one called Fred.

"And together, we are the – "

"Amazing Weasley twins!"

"Oh, don't mind them." A rather pompous looking older boy with a prefect badge pinned to his chest waved them off, "I am Percy Weasley."

* * *

"Malfoy, Draco!"

Draco, who seemed much recovered from his little misadventure on the train, walked with an aristocratic swagger to the hat. The hat had barely touched his head when it shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Figures," Blaise mumbled darkly, "I get that git too."

Heidi gave him a rather sympathetic look.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting at the center of the head table, beside an empty chair reserved for Minerva and with Pomona Sprout to his right – the Head of Hufflepuff House - was frowning. Minerva had finished calling the P section, and Potter, Harry had been completely missed. In fact, he didn't see Harry's face anywhere amongst the first year crowd that had gathered near the Sorting Hat.

Severus, who knew what his mentor was thinking about, muttered darkly, "Ah, Potter's brat – didn't even bother showing up."

_There must be a mistake._ Albus's mind churned quickly as the Sorting progressed.

"He didn't even get called – must've crawled into a hole and perished." Severus continued, earning rather dark looks from everyone else at the table. Dumbledore included, while the mysterious, foul-smelling Quirrell merely smiled.

Filius was looking at his employer with feigned disinterest.

* * *

"Weasley, Ronald."

Silence pervaded through the hall when no one came up to put on the hat. For Albus Dumbledore, it was the second shock of his night – that boy was so instrumental for his plans for the _Greater Good_. Little did he know that Ronald had missed his ride to Hogwarts, and was spending a rather miserable evening back home at the Burrow, with his fuming mother. The plan that Albus had set up had failed spectacularly when Harry had failed to show up.

"Blimey, I told him that he should have left when we all did." Fred whispered to his twin, "I didn't understand why we had to wait at King's Cross for so long, anyways."

"Yeah, mom kept a rather tight lip about it." George answered back, "And I thought _we_ were going to miss the bloody train."

"Good thing we left anyways," Fred added, "It's all a rather fishy business anyways."

"I wonder what mom was up to, anyhow." George mused, "Seemed rather odd."

"I wonder what's going to happen to ickle Ronniekins since he missed the _Express_." Fred looked more serious.

Neville eavesdropped on the conversation while pretending to pay great attention to Seamus, who was talking at great lengths about his family history.

* * *

"Zabini, Blaise!"

Blaise knew he was the last one left, so he rushed over to the stool with Heidi following at his heels. Gracefully, he removed the hat from the stool and placed it lightly on his head before sitting back down. There was a murmur in the crowd when Heidi had followed him.

"Clever, cunning mind... surprising amount of loyalty and bravery too, but only to your truest friends – lots of talent – you will do well in SLYTHERIN!"

He took the hat off, and Heidi followed him to the applauding table. He could see Hermione, Neville and Hannah clapping for him as well from the other tables. He noticed that Draco and his goons weren't clapping, but he shrugged – his family had never been intimately associated with the Malfoys.

He was immediately greeted by a few people he knew – Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis and Henry Winters.

"Ah Blaise, we heard about what you did to Draco, Gregory and Vincent on the train." Daphne smiled, "It's about time someone's taken that little spoiled bugger down a notch or two."

The wealthy Greengrasses stood on neutral ground.

"Did you see his swagger?" Henry laughed – his laughter was rather dark - , "Draco, the mini-aristocrat!"

The old Winters family wanted nothing to do with either the Dark Lord or Dumbledore. They wanted peace.

"I almost died when he put on the ol' Sorting Hat." Tracey added her bit in. She and Daphne were tired of watching the Malfoys parade arrogantly down the streets, as if they owned them.

Davis was a halfblooded relation to Daphne. They were firm friends.

Pansy, who had been listening to the four immediately frowned, "Don't talk like that about Draco. He's got –"

"He's got what? More money?" Henry scoffed, "My family could buy his out any day!"

Esmeralda, a sixth year prefect, immediately put a halt to the dissonance, "If you guys are going to bad-mouth your fellow Slytherins, please do it in the Common Room – we aren't liked much by the other Houses, so we have to stick together."

Blaise merely shrugged. It was a good thing that Draco and his goons were sitting on the other end of the table.

_Stick together with Draco? Hell would freeze over first._

Heidi whined beneath his feet.

* * *

Neville had pulled out his notebook from Harry out from his trunk and onto his bed. He had decided to turn himself in early today and used his wand to close the scarlet drapes around his bed. Outside, he could hear Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan talking loudly.

He opened the book:

_Blaise – You will spy on the Weasleys, right? You can't walk two steps in your dorm without stumbling across one._

Neville then wrote:

_Blaise – Of course! Fred and George (the Weasley Twins) have let slip that their mom was up to something, but they didn't know what – they left for the train at the last minute and barely caught it as did Percy._

_Harry – Hey, it is Neville here. I got sorted into Gryffindor, which I am sure my Gran will be very excited to hear about when I owl her tomorrow. Trevor's alright, although he did get loose in the Hogwarts Express. It's rather cosy up here in the Gryffindor dormitories which I share with Dean and Seamus. Blaise and I saw a bunch of redheads waiting for someone near Platforms Nine and Ten at King's Cross. These redheads were members of the traditionally Light Weasley family. Hannah thought that they were waiting for some innocent reason but Blaise and I have our suspicions that there's something a little more sinister to this._

_I overheard the Weasley twins – Fred and George – talking about how odd that their mother had made them wait near the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The youngest Weasley boy – Ronald – had apparently missed the train during this stakeout or whatever it's called. I am sure by now that Blaise has also put the pieces together. Dumbledore didn't look too much affected when they skipped your name at the Sorting, or when Ronald failed to show up – but then again, he's probably a master Occlumens. Hope Ivan didn't work you too hard on your first day – Neville_

Neville closed the leather book, and was surprised to see the Gryffindor crest adorn the cover.

He put his book and his self-inking quill away in his trunk, bade goodnight to his fellow dorm mates and fell asleep.

* * *

Hermione, after having fought for the bed by the beautiful stained glass window and won, was now downstairs at the common room which was populated with comfortable blue-bronze couches. The fireplace was decorated with an eagle motif while a huge Ravenclaw banner was draped above the mantel from the ceiling. Much to her delight, the Ravenclaws had their own private library attached to their common room.

She was sitting at a desk, where she had one of her books out and the beautiful leather book that Harry had given each of them in front of her. Terry Boot was sitting at the desk across from her, his head deep in a first year Transfiguration book, while Anthony was trying to distract him. She pulled out a quill and wrote:

_Harry – Hermione the Ravenclaw here. You were right! _

_Nothing too much to report here, but we did get a rather nasty meeting from our good friend Draco Malfoy on the way to Hogwarts. Fortunately Neville got him with a great Filipendo Jinx and we chased his other two henchmen out of our compartment as well. Blaise and Neville think there's something up at King's Cross, but I am sure that they will tell you through their own books. Dumbledore didn't look too disappointed when your name wasn't mentioned, but I think he's probably an excellent Occlumens, and is perfectly capable of maintaining what we call the "poker" face. _

_We've got an odd sort named Professor Quirrell who's going to be our new Defence against the Dark Arts professor. Apparently, it has become routine that each DADA professor only lasts a year around here from the local gossip mill. The Headmaster did mention that the third floor corridor on the right side of Hogwarts was off limits if we didn't want to die a nasty death. I asked our prefect if that corridor was sealed off prior to this year, and she said no!_

_I can't wait for classes to begin. _

_I will keep you in the know,_

_Hermione_

Hermione closed her book and put her quill aside. She smiled at the Ravenclaw emblem that had stitched itself to the cover of her leather book.

* * *

Hannah placed the last of her clothing from her trunk to the ornate wooden drawers provided beside her bed, located closest to the round-shaped double doors that led out to the common room. Susan, Megan and Trisha were the other girls that she was sharing her dorm with. The Hufflepuff dorm was furnished with comfortable wooden furniture, and the lights that illuminated the room felt like rays of sunlight.

She picked up the leather book that Harry had given her and made her way to the common room, where there were tables for recreation or work. The common room was an earthy, spacious, round room, with low ceilings and black and yellow couches populated throughout. A large carving of a badger was done beautifully in wood above the fireplace that was flanked by two round double doors. These doors led to the various dormitories for each year and sex. Professor Sprout, their head of House, had decorated the place with plants – all cheery – and some of them even danced.

Everyone else was in the dorm, so she sat down on one of the tables and began to write:

_Harry – Hey, it is Hannah. I hope Ivan isn't driving you crazy over there – he seems the type. Everything was relatively normal if you count bumping into Draco on the train a normal occurrence. Only three other girls in my dormitory – Trisha, Susan and Megan, oh Merlin, I forgot to tell you that I got sorted into Hufflepuff! Hannah the Hufflepuff – that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?_

_One of the students to be sorted – Ronald Weasley – didn't show up today, which was odd since everyone else was present and accounted for. It does make me want to buy into the theory that Blaise and Neville had regarding the Weasley family back at King's Cross. Dumbledore also mentioned about the third corridor on the right being out of bounds, which seems kind of fishy since everyone else in the upper years, say that this was not the case in the past years. _

_Good night,_

_Hannah_

Hannah smiled at the badger that had magically appeared at the cover of her notebook before opening it again to write something to Blaise.

* * *

One of the advantages of being sorted in to Slytherin, Blaise mused, was that every student got their own room. Blaise had picked the room second closest to the Common Room, and had left his trunk in the middle of the room. Everything down in the Slytherin area was illuminated by a greenish light. He mentally listed through all the Slytherins in his year – the git, the git's goon number one, the git's goon number two, Daphne, Tracey, Henry, Theodore, Millicent, and the git's little girlfriend. It was a little known secret outside the Slytherin Dungeons that there was a fraction of Slytherins who did not support or were neutral to the Dark Lord's cause – which included families like the Winters, the Zabinis, and the Greengrasses.

Heidi had claimed the rug in front of Blaise's bed and was already taking her snooze. Blaise sighed before taking out his own book. He opened it:

_Hannah – There must be something up with that third corridor, all the older people I've asked from my house said that the corridor has never been sealed off until now. After that Ronald Weasley thing that happened earlier tonight, I think your theory is plausible. _

_Hermione – Dumbledore could be up to something in regards to the third corridor – more information is needed. _

He lazily summoned a self-inking quill – something that the four of them had found on their last shopping trip and began to write.

_Harry – Slytherin's Blaise here. Got my own room and my own allies here – Daphne, Henry and Tracey. I am pretty sure Neville would have told you about the suspicious group of gingers between Platforms 9 and 10 – the Weasleys. When Ronald Weasley failed to show up for his sorting, that pretty much confirms one of our theories – they were waiting and whoever or whatever they were waiting for did not show up on time or not at all. We don't have any evidence regarding their motives, but it doesn't look too good for them. I sent a note to Neville earlier, and he agreed that he would continue to do some spying on the Weasleys since his dorm is teeming with them. _

_Well, Hannah and Hermione thinks that our good friend Dumbledore is up to something that has to do with the sealed off third corridor so we've got two operations to worry about. Keeps our first year interesting, doesn't it? _

_I will let you know if anything comes up._

_Blaise _

Blaise closed the book. The Slytherin crest had first appeared when he had first written in the book earlier this evening. He nodded at it before stowing it back in his trunk and hit the sack in anticipation of tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N: **Ronald didn't show up to the Sorting! Invented some OCs for a few of the Houses – in case you didn't recognize them from canon but for the most part, stuck to original people. It would make sense that not all Slytherins would bow down to Draco and his cronies - but they keep **that** a secret from the other Houses.

Sorting Hat song and Hagrid's words were taken from PS.

Review?


	11. XI - First Lessons

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own Harry Potter. – Damn Umbridge and her blood quill.

* * *

**Chapter XI – First Lessons**

It was still dark when Harry set off for his second day of training. There was hardly anyone out on the streets of the usually bustling Diagon Alley but the lack of company didn't faze him as he walked silently down the street that led to the notorious Knockturn Alley. The raindrops rolled off his cloak which he had waterproofed with a water-repelling charm.

He stifled a yawn. _Goddamn it, why so early!_

It took him fifteen minutes to reach the familiar shop. Knowing that the wards were keyed to him, Harry pushed the old creaky door open and stepped onto a faded rug inside. He walked up the old steps and entered into Ivan's living quarters.

It was deserted.

The fire in the fireplace still burned merrily, but Harry knew that Ivan kept the fire alive all the time. The only thing that was remarkable was the porcelain flowerpot that sat innocently on the middle of the dining table. There was a scrap of parchment beside it.

_Portkey for HG or HP, whatever he prefers. _

It was written in Ivan's strange but flowering handwriting. He reached out for the flowerpot in the middle of the table and felt a familiar tug at his torso. Remembering to kick his legs out at the last second – a method to ensure that he landed upright – he found himself standing in a grassy clearing surrounded by a foreign species of tree that he did not recognize. Unlike the dreary London climate that he had just left, it was bright and sunny. Harry deduced that he was no longer in Britain anymore, judging by the clear change in time zone. Sensing that there was no one around, he lied down on the soft, sweet grass.

"Enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Harry was startled by a voice he did not recognize.

Harry sat up so quickly that he felt disoriented. A few seconds later, he found himself looking at a Chinese woman, who was slightly taller than him. Her long raven coloured hair was braided behind her with an emerald ribbon. Her eyes were a shade of dull grey, but the black and green robes she wore made her look imposing. She was barefoot.

Despite her Asian appearance, she spoke English like a Northeastern American.

"Are you supposed to teach me?" Harry was completely baffled.

She laughed. "So that's what he called it, didn't he, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

The woman went on, "I heard you play with fire, Harry – very flashy – however... I play with..." She swept her arm in front of her, and the earth beneath their feet warped into a curved, hardened barrier.

"Earth," Harry finished. He looked in awe at the structure that the woman had created so effortlessly. He gently pressed his fingers against the firm wall.

"But that's not what I am here to teach you, unless you've been gifted with the power of the Earth." The woman went on.

Harry shook his head and admitted, "No, I cannot move the particles of the Earth as easily as you could. I would have to use my raw magic to shape the Earth."

He had begun to realize that the woman had never actually looked at him during their entire conversation, "You are blind, aren't you?"

Harry mentally slapped himself for asking.

"Physically, yes – but with magic, no," The woman didn't seem offended at all.

"You see with magic." Harry said, "I can sweep my surroundings with magic and see as well. But, where am I and who are you?"

"Where you are, is not important. I am Toph Lin, the Earth mage. But I see what Ivan meant." Toph looked curiously at Harry.

"What did he mean?"

"You concentrate on streams of magic, don't you? There's another way to channel your magic core which opens the door to innumerable possibilities in this world. Sit down." The Earth mage sat down, Indian fashion.

Harry, who was still in the dark, followed suit.

"Find your magical reservoir. When you do, let it expand and encompass your entire body. This is where the difficulty lies."

Harry found his core instantaneously – and he in a way, kind of understood what Toph meant. Usually, he would channel energies with one pathway, such as causing the energy to flow from his center, to his shoulder, to his arm and through his palm. It allowed him more control, than the method Toph proposed.

"Don't think so much, Harry. Unless your brain can handle infinite pathways, " Toph added.

Harry groaned as this was starting to sound like those Calculus textbooks with their infinities of infinities.

Slowly, he allowed his energy to radiate throughout his entire body. He did his best to squash the urge to channel it into one stream which the rest of his body was screaming to do. He had to repeat this thrice, as before most of the energy could reach the external world, his instincts would take over and redirect everything back to his dominant arm – which was how he usually did wandless magic.

On his third attempt, Harry had a revelation. This time, he managed to fight his mind and immerse his entire body in his core's energy. He took all the energy that radiated from body surfaces pointing down towards the ground and pushed. It took him five seconds before he realized that he was floating in the air.

"Ah, well done." Toph complimented. Harry reflected that the physics of levitation was very similar to the physics of rocket boosters in the Muggle world.

Unfortunately, the old urge returned stronger than ever, and Harry felt pain when his ass collided with the hard ground.

_Bloody hell, there's going to be a nasty bruise down there tomorrow._

* * *

"Hey, Neville! Wait up!" Blaise broke away from the pack of first year Slytherins trudging their way to their first class.

Neville stopped – letting Dean and Seamus continue their way down to the dungeons without him.

"Be my partner for Potions? Ol' Snape won't pick on you so much if you do." Blaise asked his friend with a wide grin on his face.

Neville grinned back, "I would have said yes regardless."

"You've also got to be my partner for Herbology! We have that together too, and I am crap with plants." Blaise continued onwards.

"Deal then, you protect me from your lovely Head of House, and I will teach you the art of greenery." Neville proposed. They were walking down the stairs now, and both boys kept an eye out for missing stairs or other strange phenomena.

"Great!" Blaise agreed with a rather happy air.

The two of them walked into the Potions classroom, following Seamus, Dean, Lavender, Pavarti, Emily and Kaitlyn – all the Gryffindors – while the rest of the Slytherins followed behind.

Blaise and Neville picked a coveted workbench at the back of the room, nearest to the ingredients cabinet. They noted that Draco was sitting with Pansy sat at one of the benches at the front row, along with the Gryffindor girls. Henry and Daphne took the table beside them, while Tracey and Millicent took the table in front of them.

"You are Neville right?" Daphne asked the blond boy, "I've heard a lot about you from Blaise over here. Got to congratulate you for giving our Drakie-poo over there a little knock on the noggin – he really needed it." She whispered the rest of her words, "Honestly, he really needs to grow up."

Neville blushed, while Blaise answered on behalf of his friend, "Oh stop embarrassing Neville, Daphne."

"Shush, he's coming," Henry pressed a finger to his lips in warning.

Sure enough, Professor Severus Snape glided effortlessly towards his desk at the front, his robes billowing elegantly behind him.

"Is there a charm for that?" Henry whispered to Daphne, forcing Blaise and Neville, who were within hearing range, to almost suffocate with internal laughter. Daphne almost swallowed the wrong way.

The professor started by taking the registry while Neville and Blaise had started writing notes to each other using a piece of Blaise's parchment.

_You know, I think he actually does use a charm for that. _

_It defies all known laws of Physics! _

_I totally concur. I say, why don't we also conduct Operation – Billowing Snape as well?_

_That's the best idea yet!_

_And then, at the end of seventh year, walk into his class with the same charm applied to our robes. In fact, we will teach to Henry (i.e. guy sitting beside Daphne) too, he will get a kick out of it._

_We are horrible students. Merlin, he's been talking for past few minutes – pay attention Blaise!_

At this point, the Potions master had reached the latter half of his speech for first years, "I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory and even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

After Snape had finished, a dramatic silence had fallen in the room.

"Longbottom! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Snape sniped suddenly out of nowhere.

_The Draught of Living Death_

"The Draught of Living Death, sir." Neville frowned at Blaise afterwards.

_I knew that! You didn't have to write it!_

_Hey, I am doing the "protecting" that was part of our deal!_

Snape looked surprised that the Gryffindor knew the answer, in fact, his eyes widened when he realized that said Gryffindor was sitting amicably with a bunch of Slytherins at the back of the room. His lips curled and he redirected his ire at Seamus Finnigan,"Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

_Stone taken from the stomach of a goat, that's what a bezoar is._

_Yes, Neville, you are correct._

"I don't know, sir." Seamus replied back, unsure.

Snape snapped, "Didn't think you'd come to class without reading, eh, Finnigan? A point from Gryffindor."

_Merlin, already down in negative land._ Neville wrote.

Blaise gave his friend a pitying look.

After a few more questions, more points docked from Gryffindors and a quick lecture on the Boil-Cure Potion, Snape waved his wand at the board in front of the classroom, and the recipe for the topic of the lecture came up.

"You will now brew the Boil-Cure Potion, in pairs, at your tables. You have one hour. Begin."

Neville _accioed_ his shrunken cauldron from his bag and returned it to its normal size, while Blaise went to the ingredient cupboard, with a neatly written list of the amounts and stuff that they needed. Blaise had written down the list after they had received their timetables at breakfast in anticipation of Potions.

Blaise came back with an armful of ingredients and between the two of them, divided up the labour. Blaise weighed his dried nettles with his scale, while Neville was dutifully crushing fangs. The two of them had brewed numerous potions together back at Harry's flat, and could pretty much communicate by body language alone. They were stewing their slugs when a violent hissing sound filled the air.

"Bloody Merlin, I put in the porcupine quills too early, Tracey!" Millicent freaked, watching in horror as Tracey's cauldron began to melt and drip over the floor, while the quick thinking Tracey pulled her friend up on her stool before too much damage was done – she was spotting a few boils.

Neville and Blaise, being right behind the accident, scrambled up on top of their stools as soon as Millicent mentioned the quills. Hannah had made that mistake during her first attempt back at Harry's and none of them wanted a second experience.

"_Evanesco!_" The Potions Master vanished the mess with a flick of his wand, "Davis, take Bulstrode to the Hospital Wing. You, Longbottom, why didn't you stop her! Five points from Gryffindor!"

If all the glares from the Gryffindors were arrows, the Potions master would have resembled a pin cushion.

"Git," Blaise whispered to Neville when Snape returned to prowling around the front of the room, "We, Slytherins, blow up the place, and good old Snape here will still find a way to pin the blame on a Gryffindor."

* * *

Remus J. Lupin found himself waiting nervously for his new student by sitting on one of Ivan's armchairs. Ever since James and Lily's deaths, he had been out doing odd jobs – no one wanted to employ a werewolf – and spending much of his time wallowing in self-pity. However, the mysterious Russian-Asianic Ivan had approached his shabby house and offered him a job. The pay was incredibly generous, with the added promise of the best Wolfsbane Potion provided monthly prior to his painful transformations.

The conditions were simple – that he teaches Ivan's ward all he knew – while swearing an oath to never reveal to anyone the identity of his student or the nature of his work. This wasn't a problem, since Remus was a master Occlumens and that almost anything was better than the life he had been living for the past years.

Suddenly, a young boy spun into the room. Remus logically deduced that the boy had travelled via Portkey, and got up from the squishy armchair to greet his new student. His keen werewolf sight picked up on the boy's features – noting the silver lock that fell gracefully on the boy's forehead, how skinny the boy was, and the greenness of the boy's eyes – the eyes looked familiar to Remus, but he couldn't place where.

The boy's scent was unfamiliar, yet there was a familiar undertone.

Remus sighed, before walking in front of the boy. "I am Remus Lupin, I will be your Defence Tutor, as appointed by your guardian, Ivan."

"Hello, Remus." Harry looked at the man wearing tattered robes. He noted that the man looked exhausted, and looked rather older than he ought to be.

_Remus, where did I hear that name before?_

"My name is Harry." The boy extended his hand.

Remus froze in shock. _Harry._ _Bloody Merlin, James' son. Lily's eyes..._

Harry was totally baffled when Remus ran forward and gave him a hug.

"You are James' son." Remus said in a hoarse, low voice, "Harry James Potter. We didn't know where Dumbledore had you hidden away for so long."

Harry suddenly had his own insight, remembering that day when one Severus Snape had been sticking his hooked nose where it didn't belong, "You are Moony!"

"You... you... remember me?" Remus was shocked, "I was your Uncle Moony before they were killed."

"No, I saw it from someone's mind." Harry confessed, albeit reluctantly.

Remus looked slightly crestfallen, but changed the topic, "Where did Dumbledore hide you?"

Harry sighed, "It's not a pleasant story, Remus."

"Merlin, please don't tell me – he left you at Petunia's!" Remus exclaimed.

Harry's emotionless expression told him everything.

"Dumbledore... How did you end up here?"

"That's also a long story..." Harry's stomach growled.

"Here, sit." Remus walked over to the dining table and pulled a chair out for Harry, before seating himself across from Harry's chair.

Remus waved his wand and summoned a basket. He removed sandwiches, fruit, a jug of pumpkin juice and a plateful of chocolate brownies. He tapped his wand on the various food items to remove the Stasis charm that kept the items fresh.

"Ivan left me this for lunch." Remus explained.

Harry looked appreciatively at the spread, before digging in.

After he had eaten his fill, as did Remus, Harry waved his arm over all the cutlery and plates and the items neatly packaged themselves in the basket. He swept his other arm over the table, and vanished all the remaining detritus.

Remus' jaw dropped at the display of wandless magic.

Harry shrugged, "I might as well show you what I can do."

"That is impressive, especially given your age. Most wizards and witches aren't capable of performing wandless feats of this caliber."

Harry shrugged his shoulders again.

Remus sighed. Harry was so reserved and humble for a child his age.

_What in Merlin did the Dursleys do to Harry?_

"I guess, I might as well, tell you what happened." Harry interrupted Remus' train of thought, "I think you have a right to know what happened after my parents' death."

Remus leaned closer, his elbows propped on the table.

So Harry told his father's former best friend, the hell he went through at the Dursleys, his rather dramatic escape with his magical familiar, his adventures at Diagon Alley, and the friends and allies that he met. He told Remus how he met Ivan, his decision to not to go to Hogwarts, and his suspicions about the great Albus Dumbledore.

At the end of Harry's tale, Remus remained silent. Harry could tell the man was busy thinking about what happened. He didn't dare attempt Occlumency on Remus – he had feeling that Ivan had chosen Remus for his skill, as well as his connection to Harry's father to be his tutor.

"I see why Ivan made me swear the Wizard's Oath, now." Remus finally spoke after twenty minutes of quiet reflection, "It makes sense. I can't believe Dumbledore would do such a thing but nevertheless – he did it. I just want you to know, Harry... that I will be on your side, always. It's too late to rectify what has already been done – but I will do my best."

His head was bowed.

Harry could see all the grey that streaked Remus' longish brown hair.

"Thank you, Moony." A vestige of a genuine smile appeared on Harry's face.

Remus brightened at the use of the nickname.

* * *

After Potions, Blaise and Neville made their way to the Great Hall for lunch. They were able to finish their potion first without any serious mishaps and Snape had kept his mouth shut when Blaise and Neville turned in their product. Both of them did however give a disgusted look at Snape when he started complimenting on Draco's stewed slugs rather loudly shortly after Millicent's porcupine incident.

The Hall was almost deserted, since Neville and Blaise had left early from class, so the pair of them decided to sit at the Ravenclaw table – since they figured it would be the place where they would get the least dirty looks.

"Hey, Neville, Blaise!" Hermione and Hannah waved towards them.

Neville and Blaise turned around to wave at the two girls. They took the two seats across the boys, and sat down.

"So, why the Ravenclaw table?" Hermione asked them curiously.

Blaise explained, "Gryffindors hate Slytherins, and Slytherins hate Gryffindors, so according to our logic, this place is probably the best place to sit together."

"Hey, maybe we can promote inter-house unity if we choose a different table to sit at for every meal!" Hannah exclaimed.

Hermione brightened, "Yeah! That's an excellent idea, Hannah!"

"So, how was Transfiguration?" Blaise asked them.

"Professor McGonagall is a good teacher," Hermione reflected, "Even though we already knew how to do the Transfiguration, she did say some things that were new for me."

Hannah smiled, "Of course, we pretended we couldn't get our matches to turn into needles the first few times we tried."

Hermione nodded, "We figured that it was a better idea if we have to pretend to struggle a bit."

"Yeah, Grey's method of visualizing Transfiguration was very helpful." Neville added, "Even dunderheads at Transfiguration like me, can get it with that!"

All four had agreed to refer to Harry as Grey while at Hogwarts.

"Oh Neville, you sell yourself short." Hermione sighed.

"How was Potions with our favourite Professor?" Hannah asked the guys with wry humor.

"Well, Snape hates Gryffindors. That's for sure." Neville replied.

The pair told them about the melting cauldron incident and how Snape deducted five points from Neville as a result.

"That's not fair at all!" Hermione grumbled.

Hannah nodded, "I don't look forward to Potions with Mr. Greasy and Hooked Nosed."

"Don't worry." Blaise reassured them, "Just get it done and ignore what he says that isn't important."

Neville nodded.

"What potion did you guys brew?" Hannah asked.

Blaise answered, "The first one in the book."

"Your favourite one – with the boils." Neville made a face.

"It's alright, Hannah, you won't melt the cauldron twice with the same potion." Blaise said reassuringly, "Plus, that was the only potion you messed up in the first-year book, too."

As they were talking, the Great Hall began to fill up with people. The other Ravenclaws around them looked at the odd group at their table curiously but didn't comment. The Hall gradually became silent when the Headmaster stood up from his seat from the High Table and cleared his voice.

"I have a special announcement for you all. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of our First Years was not Sorted yesterday. But he is now here and we will proceed to sort him now."

Everyone turned away from the Headmaster to watch Professor McGonagall bring the four-footed stool and the patchy Sorting Hat back into the Hall.

"Weasley, Ronald." Minerva called out.

An awkward boy, with the trademark Weasley red-hair and freckles entered the Hall. He walked over to the Hat and placed it on his head.

There was a brief moment, before the Hat called out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

There was a lot of clapping and cheering from the Gryffindor table as Ronald joined them, while everyone else from the other three tables were speculating about what possibly could have happened to cause the youngest Weasley boy to miss the train.

* * *

After Harry and Remus' talk at Ivan's flat, tutor and student walked to Harry's place, as Ivan had no room set up for more active activities. Remus was impressed with the extensive wards that Harry had set up at his place, and smiled when Harry keyed him in the wards system. Harry took him to the "Practice" room, which had been the place where Neville, Hermione, Hannah and Blaise as well as himself had practiced innumerable spells on each other. With help from his friends, they had charmed two more rooms into existence that were connected to the "Practice" room – one being a Potions laboratory, and the other, a luxurious and spacious room for studying during the past summer.

"Before we begin," Remus started, after giving the room a nod of approval, "We will perform the _Deletrius _spell on our wands at the end of each lesson. You know what that means, Harry?"

Harry nodded, he had read about it in a Wizarding law book some time ago, "In case _Prior Incantato_ is ever cast on our wands, the spells we perform prior to the _Deletrius _will not be detected."

"Well said." Remus smiled.

"Wait, so that means we are..." Harry mused.

"Yes, going to use magic outlawed by the current Ministry." Remus finished Harry's thought.

Harry scratched his head, "How do you cast the _Deletrius _spell? It's not in any book I've read."

"Harry." Remus began to laugh, "If that spell was available to the public, every wizard and witch would use it, and illegal magic would be very hard to detect."

"Then, how do you know?" Harry asked.

Remus winked roguishly, "Ah, allow an old man to keep some secrets."

"So, what are we going to do today?" Harry changed the subject.

Remus grinned, "This - _Imperio._"

Harry didn't notice until too late that Remus had summoned his own wand from his holster, located somewhere in his robes. He was bewildered when the curse hit him, but that shock quickly wore off when he felt his worries drift away and the most wonderful feeling of contentedness engulfed his entire body.

_Tap your feet. _

The command came, and Harry found himself doing some form of a tap dance, while still engulfed in this wondrous, rather freeing sensation. It seemed ironic, that the victim of the Imperius felt so free, yet so trapped.

_Stop. Cartwheel._

_Why? _Harry found his brain talking back to Remus' voice in his head.

_Cartwheel forward – do it now! _The inner voice became more demanding, insistent.

_No._ Harry found himself mentally fighting back.

_Now!_ The demand was the most forceful, yet.

The result was that Harry did a rather half-hearted cartwheel which left him in a heap on the ground. Harry winced when he got up, realizing that he had fallen on the same spot that he had injured earlier back in the day with Toph.

"That's more like it." Remus grinned Marauder style.

"How did you know I could resist it?" Harry asked, curiously – he remembered reading that there were few people capable of throwing the curse off.

"Ah, people who are proficient with Occlumens generally have the willpower and focus to throw the curse off. Ivan rather insisted that you learn how to neutralize the _Imperius_ as soon as possible."

Harry made a mental note to teach his companions how to throw off the Imperius as soon as possible.

"Now, again – _Imperio._"

Harry groaned before the comfortable sensation of the _Imperius_ took over.

* * *

Neville and Hannah made their way to dinner after an abysmally boring History of Magic lecture by the ghostly Professor Binns. Neville had resorted to starting his Potions essay on the properties of porcupine quills, while Hannah had doodled accurate sketches of their fellow classmates for the past hour of class since both had lost the willpower to pay attention. This was the case for all the other Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors in the stuffy classroom, and gossip was exchanged by both Houses – the most popular being increasingly implausible reasons why Ronald Weasley showed up the day after the Sorting.

Ronald Weasley was not-too-pleased with his newfound "celebrity" status at Hogwarts. In the past two classes that Neville had – History with the Hufflepuffs and Charms with the Ravenclaws – there had been whispers and discreet fingers being pointed at the lone Ronald Weasley – even by some of the Gryffindor girls. As a result, he had been a rather foul and surly mood ever since he had shown up at lunch and everyone kept a wide berth from his rather prickly company.

Neville and Hannah joined Blaise and Hermione at the Slytherin Table. They had all agreed that they will rotate tables at every meal. Draco, who was about to say something derogatory about the newcomers, was immediately silenced by glares from Blaise, Henry and Daphne, while Pansy pretended that there was a foul stench in the air. A few of the older Slytherins made some snide comments about first years unable to find their own table, but the four Slytherins were able to hold their ground. It also helped that Blaise, Henry and Daphne came from well-respected families.

The meal soon appeared, and they all dug in.

"History of Magic's got to be the most useless class out of the lot." Neville complained, as he helped himself to some roasted chicken and potatoes.

Daphne nodded, "You guys had History too? We had it after lunch with the Ravenclaws – I finished my Potions essay there, Tracey fell asleep and Henry kept complaining to Blaise about the quality of education. Blaise eventually nodded off too."

"Yeah, it's just getting lousy." Henry stabbed his fork rather viciously into his potato, "Only five more years of Binns."

"That's five years too long, if you ask me." Hannah frowned, "We would have died of boredom by then."

"Hear, hear." Hermione said, much to the astonishment of her friends.

"But Hermione," Blaise exclaimed, with a rather teasing tone, "I saw you following along with everything our most fascinating Professor was saying."

"Blaise!" Hermione groaned, "That was before you joined Tracey in Lala-land!"

"Lala-what?" Henry jerked his attention from his chicken leg to the conversation.

"Muggle-speak for out of touch with reality, Henry," Hermione explained.

Henry smiled, "Muggles have such quaint sayings, eh?"

"But seriously," Neville continued, "I can't stand having to sit in that class for five more years!" His statement was met by a chorus of agreements.

"Hmm... I wonder." Henry stroked his chin.

"What?" Tracey looked curiously at her fellow Slytherin.

"Yeah, what, Henry?" Daphne egged him on.

"My dad sits on the Board of Governors of Hogwarts," Henry began to say.

Neville's eyes had a glint in them, "We could replace him!"

"Merlin, that's an idea!" Millicent leapt from her conversation with Pansy to the other side. Pansy looked incredibly annoyed.

"We need to do some research though," Henry frowned, "My dad likes it when people outline exactly what they want done and how to go about it."

"We'll help!" Daphne and Tracey immediately jumped aboard, "In fact, Tracey and I will go to the Library right after dinner."

"Me too!" Millicent waved her free hand at them, "Old Binns wouldn't even know what hit him!"

"Umm, Milly? You do realize he's a ghost, right?"

* * *

_Hannah, Blaise, Neville, Hermione – Hey guys – Grey here. I am exhausted so I am just going to write you all at the same time. Thanks for passing on the Weasley bit – I will do my own research regarding them on my end – but please keep your eyes and ears open. Re. The Sealed Corridor – do what you think you can – but don't do anything that I wouldn't do. _

_I've met two of my tutors today – one a mysterious mage by the name of Toph Lin and another named Moony. I managed to levitate today – but that resulted in a painful bruise and Moony trained me to resist the Imperius. I plan to teach you guys when you get back from Hogwarts, so for the time being – stay away from Dark Wizards! (I am joking, but still... you guys get what I mean.)_

_May Lady Luck be with you,_

_-Grey_

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was frantic.

Immediately after he dismissed his students from the Welcome Feast, he had combed through the Hogwarts Book of Students, and there was no mention, anywhere, of Harry James Potter to be found. He contacted several other Wizarding schools in Europe this morning – including Durmstrang Institute and Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. He had gotten the responses later on in the day, in which they had replied in the negative.

He had also, made the trip to the Burrow, where he had a talk with his most loyal supporter – Molly Weasley regarding the events yesterday. Molly confirmed his fears that Harry didn't show up at all at King's Cross; therefore, putting all his future plans on hold.

Molly had been extremely disappointed that her youngest son wouldn't become the best friend of Harry Potter, nor would her daughter have the potential to end up as Mrs. Potter, of the _Most Courageous and Noble House of Potter_. He had reassured her that there was still a chance that his plans could still come to fruition – and to give him time to track the boy down.

He had taken Ronald with him back to Hogwarts, and had him Sorted. The boy had been extremely sullen that he had missed his first day of Hogwarts.

_Ah, such is youth._

* * *

**A/N: **Based our Earth Mage's character based on Toph from Avatar: The Last Air Bender – because she's cool. :) Our Slytherins have a plot of their own and Snape is Snape.

Review?


	12. XII - Brewing

**The Inbetween** – By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own, so don't sue.

* * *

**Chapter XII - Brewing**

"Catch!"

Harry, who had been diligently reading a textbook on Wizarding Law, nearly got smashed by a long, hard object – but thanks to lightning-fast reflexes, he had barely caught it.

He studied the object; it was a wooden stick, similar to the pieces of wood that were stacked in Ivan's supply room – where he kept wand core materials, and a plethora of seasoned wood from both mundane and exotic species of wooden plant.

"Fight!" Ivan roared at the befuddled Harry, brandishing his own piece of wood at his ward.

He lunged towards Harry, who only had split seconds to counter Ivan's assault with a thrust of his own. The sounds of wood smacking on wood echoed throughout the living room. Harry had just realized that Ivan had somehow removed all the furniture in the living room in the last past minutes.

It wasn't long until Harry felt a sharp pain emanate from his wrist, and his own weapon sailed out of his hand and clanked on the floor. A quick gesture later, Harry was on the ground, Ivan's stick at his throat.

"Again!" The stick moved away from his Adam's apple and Harry stood up, albeit wearily.

This time, Harry was a little better prepared, and the initial clash started off with blows that would have shattered ordinary wood in to pieces. Ivan nimbly chased Harry around the room, his stick whirling, while Harry was on the defensive, desperately parrying.

Ivan disarmed Harry with an unexpected twist of his arm, and rapped him twice on his dominant hand – none too lightly. Harry was feeling a little frustrated – a feeling unfamiliar.

"If I was your enemy, you'd be dead." Ivan looked at his charge, his eyes intense.

Harry mumbled, "I'd use magic."

"Ah, you must never, ever rely solely on your magical gifts. It is your biggest asset, but nevertheless – your greatest weakness. Sometimes, it's a lot simpler to pull out a blade to do business." Ivan mused. "There's much you have to learn – if you wish to survive – if you wish to control your own destiny... your own fate."

The last words struck a chord in Harry. They reminded him of Voldemort and Dumbledore – the two players of the game of life – moving pieces mercilessly as they saw fit. His eyes blazed with a new feeling; resolution replacing his initial frustrations.

He said, "I will not have the terms of my life dictated by anyone."

There was more feeling in that statement than the summation of emotions that Harry had felt within the past years.

Ivan smiled – his dark eyes gleamed. "Ah... So be it."

He charged again, and Harry was ready for him.

At the end of the "lesson" Harry was battered and bruised, and Ivan had disarmed him in numerable different ways but he was left with the resolve to master his new craft.

* * *

"What do you know? Potions with our resident git again," Neville remarked in a tone that was parts droll and dark. He was flanked by Blaise and Henry as the trio made their way through the dimly lit dungeon corridors.

Blaise nodded and mimicked Neville's tone, "It's _rather_ generous of them to give us Potions as our last class of the week."

"Rather, I'd say." Henry added, lending a little aristocratic air, "I wonder what our grouchiness has got for us today?"

All three chuckled.

"Well, at least Potions is better than Defense," Blaise said seriously, "Id mean that Quirrell guy gives me the creeps."

"True that." Both Neville and Henry nodded at their friend. Even though Snape was nasty – at least they were doing something practical.

"One would expect Defense to be a little more interesting," Blaise sighed.

Henry supplemented, "Yeah, I mean, learn a new curse or two – not sit around in class and talk theory."

"Not to mention the whole classroom and Quirrell reeks of garlic." Blaise pinched his nose in disgust.

"Y'know, guys, it's awfully odd that Quirrell smells so bad – even if he did keep garlic stuffed up his turban..." Neville stopped when Blaise opened his mouth.

Blaise nodded, "Yeah, I get what you mean – there's something _odd_ going on."

Henry mused – he always enjoyed a great conspiracy, "Maybe he's hiding something."

That comment struck both Neville and Blaise dumb.

"Like I mean, he could be using the scent of garlic as a mask for something a little bit more sinister." Henry continued on, rather enjoying the expressions on his friends' faces.

Neville mused as they entered the classroom, "But what?"

Henry and Blaise both shrugged. When they entered the classroom, all three left their belongings on the benches that they had occupied last time and headed towards Snape's desk to drop off their essays on porcupine quills. Afterwards, they headed back to their desks where they rummaged in their bags for the textbook, parchment and quills in anticipation of Snape's arrival. As they were getting their stuff out, one Ronald Weasley stood in front of their table – rather annoyed.

Blaise, who had settled down first, inquired disinterestedly, "May I help you, Weasley?" His voice was coldly polite.

"I don't have a partner." Ronald shrugged, "So I was wondering if Neville would prefer my company to yours."

"Sorry Ronald – I am staying here." Neville sat back on his stool, while placing his quill beside his parchment.

Ronald turned a shade of red, "What? You'd prefer that – "

"You better not finish that sentence, Weasley." Henry jumped in, snipping Ronald's insult at the bud.

"You better not," Daphne stared daggers at the redhead, "You are in Slytherin territory."

Ronald's mouth went dry when he noticed the five Slytherins that surrounded him. "You – "

He looked at Neville with anger.

Henry glared, "Neville is our friend too. We might be Slytherins, but we won't hesitate to defend our friends. Now, sod off and go sit sulkily by yourself – it's not our fault that you missed the train."

The comment stung. Ronald clenched and unclenched his fists while Blaise mused that he looked rather like a kettle who was about to blow. He was about to open his mouth, but then, the Potions Master swept into the room.

"Well, well, well. Look who has decided to join us." Severus Snape's silky drawl filled the air – sending shivers down everyone's spines, "No book out, not seated – ten points from Gryffindor."

There was a multitude of glares from the Gryffindors in the room. Not all of them were directed at the much loathed bat of the dungeons.

Ronald's deep flush suddenly paled. It was almost comical, had it been in under happier circumstances. He turned away and stomped to an empty workbench in the middle of the room. Snape waited for him to moodily take out his things before moving on.

"Today, we will be brewing the Earache Elixir. Turn to page 43."

There was a hurried rush in the classroom to flip to the page that their professor had indicated. Neville merely summoned his wand and tapped at his text – which he was sharing with Blaise – and murmured the page number. The book flipped to the incanted page.

"I would expect you all to know by heart – the properties of the ingredients utilized in this rather simple elixir." Snape continued silkily, "Weasley, what two ingredients used at different stages of the brewing process of the Earache Elixir must never be placed together?"

"I don't know." Ronald answered, unoriginally.

Snape shot him a glare of annoyance and snapped nastily, "Ah, so you don't know. You must think so highly of yourself, Weasley, that you can come to class without glancing at your text and that you think you can show up to Hogwarts, whenever you like..."

"But," Ronald dared to interrupt – he was reaching his threshold for humiliation. He was seething inwardly, because it had been his mother's fault that he had missed the bloody train, which had resulted in him being the butt of all rumors, taunts, snickers and finger pointing for the past few days he had been at Hogwarts. He was the odd one out in Potions, and that one of the Gryffindors had chosen a Slytherin over him. On top of that – he was being taunted for things that were out of his control.

"It's all my bloody mother's fault! She insisted that I stay behind while my brothers left for the _Hogwarts Express_!"

"Language, Mr. Weasley – and such disrespect – for both I and your mother," Snape hissed, "Detention, Weasley – tonight at seven. Do not be late."

The Potions professor then glared at the hubbub that had arose by Ronald's tirade and the ensuing detention that had been assigned. It had been surprisingly, Snape's first detention of the year for his First Years.

The class quelled at the Potions Master's furious look, and even Draco Malfoy who had been on the verge of saying something nasty about Ronald to Pansy, sat at attention.

_Looks like he doesn't know, _Neville wrote on his parchment.

_Damn, I was kind of hoping that he did. _

_As did I!_

_Well, at least we know that his mother was involved in this. Not all is lost. _

Neville nodded at his friend when Snape issued the next series of instructions. "Brew the Earache Elixir in pairs. Starting next week, most brews will be done individually. You have thirty minutes – begin. Ronald – you will do this alone."

Some people gave the unfortunate boy, rather pitying looks.

* * *

"Potions is a subtle art, Harry. Ivan has instructed me to teach you the essentials, and more if we have time." A man dressed elegantly in a black shirt, and a pair of Muggle dark blue jeans stood in Harry's flat. His hair was dark like Harry's and he wore it longer than his student, "If you were at Hogwarts, you'd been taught by Severus Snape – who was actually my fellow colleague when he was training for his Masters certification. He's always had a way with words. But you won't get fancy descriptions off of me."

"So, what are we doing first?" Harry asked.

"Ah. Ivan has asked me to be practical. Do you know anything about the detection of poisons?"

"Not a practical knowledge, but theory I've read before." Harry mused.

The man nodded and began his lecture, "Very well, for mundane poisons, there are several spells that maybe used for the detection of Muggle toxins. _Revelare venenum _will work for most of these – if your food glows any shade of colour – it is safe to say that there is a toxin within. An adept Potions Master, and hopefully you as well, should be able to discern what agent was utilized by looking at the colour and intensity of the aura. However, recent developments in technology in our non-magical part of our world will lead – in my opinion – to the use of radiation as methods of assassination. Do you know what a radioactive isotope is?"

"Matter, according to the Muggle world, consists of particles known as atoms. Atoms are comprised of subatomic particles. Radioactive particles have unstable nuclei and will emit different types of radiation depending on the substance." Harry racked his mind.

"The problem of our little magical society, Harry, is that people neglect what the Muggles study and their observations, for there are indeed truths in what Muggles call Science. Because, they aren't burdened with Magic, they can make more direct assessments. It's more like when the first scientists who were trying to figure out the Laws of Motion, but gravity was a confounding factor. It's excellent that you have quite obviously immersed yourself into the Muggle sciences." The man explained.

"For a wizard, you know a lot about Muggles," Harry mused.

The man laughed. "What do you think I did before my Potions Mastery? I went to the Muggle world, and did graduate studies in the field of Biochemistry. I returned afterwards to Britain to apprentice under one of the greatest Potions Masters that had ever existed, for he was suddenly willing to take people. I moved to the States, afterwards, where I operated a successful Potions research and development laboratory that was designed to synthesize together the knowledge between both Magical and the Muggle worlds. It was extremely lucrative. Ivan had to track me down all the way to bloody America and give me an incentive to come back."

"So, why did you come back?" Harry was interested. It was clear that the man had no reasons of returning to England.

"Ah. Like any mortal fool – I was curious. Curious to see the boy-who-lived," The man felt Harry wince at the nickname, "Sorry about that. And also, an opportunity to see how my old world has changed – or rather – the lack of change."

"What should I call you?" Harry asked, "You never formally introduced yourself."

"My apologies," The man smiled, "The name is Forest, Dr./ Master Forest Malfoy."

Harry choked, "Malfoy?"

"I see you are acquainted with the Malfoys. However, I am an illegitimate member of their little clan. It's very curious that the Blood Magic at Gringotts does not pick up on bastard children."

"Then how did you end up with the surname?" Harry inquired.

"Ah, Abraxas did claim me as his son – but hid me away from the rest of the Malfoys. I was a much loved child with none of the burdens a legitimate member of a family such as the Malfoys would have had. As a result, I was free to pursue my whims – Muggle or Magical."

"Ah, an old Malfoy secret," Harry mused.

"Yes, indeed, now back to radioactive isotopes..."

* * *

"Oof, sorry!" Daphne and a Ravenclaw boy had reached for the same book on the bookshelf in the Library.

"That's alright," Daphne sighed as the boy got the book from the shelf.

"You are Daphne, aren't you?" The brown-haired Ravenclaw asked.

"Yup, who are you?" Daphne inquired.

"Stephen of the Cornfoots –"

"Oh, I know your family! Your father works at the Ministry of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes and your mom is an Unspeakable!" Daphne exclaimed.

Stephen smiled, "That's right."

"Merlin, but your mom was a Slytherin, if I heard my own Mother correctly." Daphne mused.

"That's also true." Stephen nodded, "Did you need this book?"

"Yeah – we've been looking for that Hogwarts Law book for several days now." Daphne explained, "We need it for 'research'."

Stephen's grin grew even wider but he whispered quietly after checking for eavesdroppers, "If your 'research' involves chucking a particular professor out of here, Terry, Anthony and I are willing to help you."

"How did you know?" Daphne looked astonished.

"Oh, word gets around here, like everything else." Stephen shrugged, "You know how it is. Don't worry – it was a pretty discreet message."

* * *

"So, we are keeping Operation Ghost low-key?" Hannah asked the group as they took a stroll around Hogwarts grounds on a warm Friday evening.

"Yeah – Henry's a paranoid little bugger." Blaise explained, "But the reasons he gave made sense – there must have been students who tried getting the ol' ghost out but failed. Plus if our darling Headmaster –"

Hermione cut in, "If the Headmaster really wanted him to be gone, he would have done it a long time ago."

"Exactly," Blaise smiled, "There must be a reason why he's determined to keep Old Binny on, y'know."

"Yeah, but we've got the other lot on that problem," Neville sighed, "We have to work on our other little projects. We can't get too involved with Daphne and Henry's project."

"Yeah, if we all get caught – I am sure they would start with us first. I mean, we are the odd group of people from all four Houses who sit together every meal." Hermione reasoned, "And it's turning into a multi-House effort."

"And we have to remember, as much as we want to better our education – our loyalty, first and foremost is to –"

A rustle in the shrubs near the Great Lake stopped Blaise mid-sentence. Vague shadows could be seen for a few seconds under the dimming skies around the area of disturbance.

"Bloody hell – what was that?" Neville swore. Blaise flinched.

Hermione groaned, "That was close, next time – someone please remember to cast _Muffiato_."

"Yes ma'am." Blaise agreed, "Damn, these surroundings have bloody ears."

"We will have to be careful next time." Neville sighed, "It could land us in hot water."

"We should be getting back. Curfew's soon." Hannah had cast the Time spell which had spelled out the time in glowing numbers.

* * *

Harry found himself walking in a shabby neighbourhood near the outskirts of London. It was Saturday, and he had the weekends off. His first week of lessons had proven to be extremely informative. Ivan had told him that Toph was very impressed that he had levitated on his first session – he would continue having lessons with her once a week. He had seen Remus everyday – they had covered the Unforgivables. Remus had also given him a parchment full of curses that could kill and their counter-curses for Harry to memorize over the weekend. Obviously, practice with such curses could not be done due to the dangerous nature of the magic – but Harry had tried several of them on insects that he had enlarged.

Forest Malfoy had proven himself to be a capable teacher and Harry was now familiar with many poison detecting methods – it also helped that Ivan had started to poison a dish or two in Harry's meals for additional practice.

Unfortunately, Ivan didn't see fit to warn Harry that he was going to start putting stuff in his food, and Harry had spent an unpleasant hour puking his guts out in a wastebasket while attempting to brew the antivenom to counteract the poison. As a result, Harry had taken to running every single detection spell he knew on anything he was about to eat. They had also started to talk about Veritaserum and methods of countering and detecting the Truth serum.

Harry also accumulated a flattering collection of bruises from his guardian. Ivan had starting initiating fights with Harry every day with the wooden sticks and he had also thrown in martial arts and fitness training as well. Harry was usually dead to the world when he got home in the evening.

Finally, he reached the house that he had been looking for. He knocked on the door and the wooden door swung forward, revealing Remus Lupin.

"Hey Harry," Remus gave him a small smile, "I wasn't expecting to see you."

"This was a rather spontaneous visit." Harry admitted, "Do you have time?"

Remus laughed, "Yep, I don't have anything important. Come in, come in."

Remus led Harry to a rather dodgy kitchen, where he gave a flick of his wand and a teapot poured tea into two teacups on a tray. He handed one over to Harry, while sipping another. Harry placed his hand over the tea and probed it with his magic.

Remus looked at him inquisitively.

"Sorry Remus, it's not that I don't trust you, but Ivan's been putting really nasty things in my food and drink these last few days."

"Ah. It's a good habit to get into." Remus mused, "It's also excellent that you can do this wandlessly – it's much more discreet."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "I've been trying to compress all the revealing spells into something simpler. It's worked so far. I find magical poisons a lot easier to pick out though."

"Makes sense," Remus nodded, "There's very few people in this world that are able to sense pure magic. It's an extremely powerful gift – although this usually comes with some form of elemental magic."

"That's what Augusta Longbottom said to me." Harry thought back.

Remus looked surprised, "The Longbottom matriarch? You've met her?"

"I am friends with Neville, her grandson." Harry smiled, "I told her that her son was magical."

"Aye, Augusta Longbottom's changed greatly since her son and her daughter-in-law were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix. Hardened." Remus frowned, "I was good friends with Alice back in our Hogwarts days. Frank and she were excellent people. They didn't deserve their fate."

He looked at Harry and said quietly, "James and Lily didn't deserve what they got either."

Harry was merely silent.

"So, why did you come to see old Moony for, anyways? I am sure you got places to see, things to do." Remus changed the topic after a moment of quietness; the sadness etched in his face was still there.

"Moony," Harry grinned, "I enjoy your company, but I also wanted to get some information."

"What sort?" Remus raised his eyebrows.

Harry asked, "What do you know about the Weasleys?"

"Well, the Head of the family is Arthur Weasley – but he's a rather passive man who lets his wife do the running – her name is Molly Weasley. They are both members of Dumbledore's group – The Order of the Phoenix. Got seven children – six boys, one girl; but why do you want to know this?"

Harry told Remus about what his friends had seen on the way to Hogwarts.

"Ah, this is serious, indeed." Remus frowned, "I will need some time to think, but it looks like Dumbledore is trying to get a chain of events rolling. If he intended for you to stay at the Dursleys for the eleven years – you would arrive naive, and not knowing how to get onto the Platform. So then, the Weasleys would intercept you, befriend you and set you on a rather Gryffindor path of life."

"And he honestly thought that would work?" Harry was bewildered.

Remus sighed. "I don't think he anticipated your magical gifts, nor your own intellect. I also don't think he understands how deep the cut is between Lily and Petunia. He's a brilliant man, Harry, but even the most intelligent of men can't foresee every possibility."

Harry frowned, "Then, that makes him more dangerous to me. I have no doubt that he's spent the past week searching for my whereabouts."

"You might be right." Remus agreed; his face was grim.

"Does he know you live here?" Harry asked just as a doorbell rang.

"Fucking hell," Remus whispered – he quickly grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him out the door to the even shabbier backyard.

They apparated.

* * *

**A/N: **Houston, we have a problem. Or rather, many problems.

Review?


	13. XIII - To the Gates of Hell

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **I solemnly swear that I do not own HP.

* * *

**Chapter XIII – To the Gates of Hell**

Remus and Harry found themselves at Hyde Park – Harry's favourite place for taking quiet strolls or walks with his friends. He had been bewildered that Remus had dragged him out of the house in great haste. The boy recognized the part of the park that they were surrounded by, and his brain quickly assembled the facts.

"Sorry Harry," Remus smiled sheepishly, "Our good friend Dumbledore was at the door. I got my wards set up so they would alert me to the identities of the people at the door. It's an excellent piece of magic for evading door-to-door salesmen – both magical and not."

"How long will your wards hold before Dumbledore finds out we've fled and attempt to trace the Apparition?" Harry inquired. He was pacing back and forth on the grass littered with colourful autumn leaves.

Stepping on them made a satisfying crunching sound.

"Ten minutes – for a wizard of his caliber." Remus mused, his forehead scrunched up in thought.

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated on Remus. He ran his magic through the older man's body and lengthened the man's hair – changing it black in the process. He also felt and saw the presence of strange dark tangles that seemed to flow throughout the circulatory system in his tutor's body, but he ignored that for the time being. Remus himself pointed his wand to himself and murmured an incantation which turned his eyes a similar shade of green to Harry's own eyes. With another flick, he transfigured his shabby robes to a Muggle collared plaid shirt and a pair of dark trousers.

He then conjured a mirror.

"Not bad, Harry." Remus winked at his pupil, "People looking at us from afar would think we are father and son."

"That's what I was aiming for." Harry grinned back, "Let's go."

Remus vanished his mirror and the two of them jogged to the local bus stop. They caught the next bus that would take them close to Diagon Alley. They went through the Leaky Cauldron with minimal fuss and headed towards Knockturn Alley.

Remus pushed the door to Ivan's shop wide open and the two of them headed up the old creaky stairs. Harry was surprised to see Ivan having tea with his dark-haired but pale Potions tutor, while a little blond boy played with wooden blocks nearby on the wooden floor. Remus removed his disguise with a complex wave of his wand.

"Remus, Harry!" Ivan called out, "I wasn't expecting either of you, today."

"Hello, Harry." Forest looked towards his only student. He looked curiously at the newcomer.

"Albus came calling." Remus explained in a rather urgent voice, "At my house – while Harry was in there."

"So we left." Harry added, noting Ivan's annoyed expression.

Ivan lifted his teacup and took a sip, before nibbling on a biscuit. "Ah. Forest, this is Remus – Harry's Defense tutor. Forest Malfoy here is teaching Harry Potions."

The two men shook each other's hands, while Remus gave him an interested look at the man. He looked remarkably like Abraxas Malfoy – of whom he had seen pictures of when he had been younger.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Remus." Forest smiled gesturing towards the child, "This here is my son – Hadrian."

Remus grinned mischievously, "It's nice to meet a Malfoy who has a rather normal sounding name as their first name."

"Ah, the family was always a little eccentric," Forest mused, while looking fondly at his offspring.

Ivan interrupted the little chit-chat that had been going on, "I was expecting Dumbledore to come look for you, Remus – but he's a little ahead of schedule. Don't worry Harry – he isn't aware of where you are."

"Why were you expecting the old man to come after me?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrow at the tea-sipping man.

Ivan sighed, "You are – the last remaining friend of James that is free. It stands to reason that Albus would come check up on you regarding the disappearance of young Harry."

"And I fled. That doesn't look to good for me in his eyes." Remus frowned.

"No, I am afraid it doesn't. What I suggest Remus, is that you do not return to your home in the near future. He will be watching the area closely. I won't even be surprised if he's set his own series of wards upon your house to alert him of your return. Keep the disguise that you had on before you dropped it here whenever you venture out and go live with Harry. I am sure he has adequate room." Ivan advised, "Maybe even assume a temporary identity."

Remus nodded, "I will do as you say, Ivan. It sounds reasonable."

"What about means of tracking? Such as via owl post." Forest played with his fingers, while in deep thought, "I mean it would be pretty nasty if there was a Portkey in there or something."

"Ah," Ivan had an idea, "We will just have Harry here inspect the mail. He can detect Portkeys and other cursed objects without the need to touch them. As long as Dumbledore doesn't have your blood -,"

"But that's Dark Magic!" Remus exclaimed – rather shocked. For Remus, it was unfathomable that Albus Dumbledore would stoop to use the Magic that he had frowned upon.

Forest smiled sadly, "Anything is possible. A person who may be repulsed by the Dark Arts may turn to them in an hour of need. There is really nothing wrong with the Dark Arts – as long as the user understands and respects the nature of the Magic for it can be dangerous under the wrong hands."

Remus sighed, "You do have a point. Dark magic isn't evil – but it can go horribly wrong if used by an amateur."

"I draw the line at Inferi and Resurrection myself." Forest added with a lighter tone, "It's never wise to dabble with things not fully understood nor to cheat Death out of its' souls."

Remus smiled, "At least you know your limits, unlike some other people."

"Wait, but what if Dumbledore simply follows the owl himself?" Harry suddenly looked uncomfortable.

Ivan, Forest and Remus looked at each other. Harry's suggestion was extremely unorthodox in the Wizarding world – but nevertheless a rather valid one.

"Right-o-The _Fidelius Charm _is the only thing I can think of to counteract that problem," Forest frowned.

Remus looked horrified, "That might as well be a jail sentence - I remember –"

Ivan interrupted, "There's a less oppressive method. I can simply remove or reset the Post Trace."

"What?" Remus, Forest and Harry looked at the Russian in bewilderment.

"The owls that are capable of delivering the post have their own innate abilities to track individuals via a specific set of markers. It's difficult to describe – it's not a magical signature, nor are they specific scents – for Muggles each have unique ones too. That's why only particular birds are capable of delivering post – such as pigeons, thunderbirds, owls and a few species of falcon. And yes, one can send owl post to a Muggle."

"Well, even I learn something new, everyday." Forest replied, rather humorously.

Remus nodded, "It's a shame that our society is too tied down in our own magic to appreciate or even study the special properties of creatures around them. I mean, Harry's suggestion just opened up a new avenue of tracking people down without the need of the trackee's blood or the use of extremely complicated magical signature tracking which is usually unreliable."

Forest nodded. "You are a brilliant kid, Harry."

"One question, Ivan," Harry was on a train of thought. "Why can't Dumbledore find me by using this particular method? And, why in hell did I get my Hogwarts Letter?"

"Ah, Harry," Ivan smiled, "You unintentionally altered the Post Trace the day you left the Dursleys to assume the identity of Harry Grey. I don't know how you did it – but you did notice that all mail addressed to Harry Grey found its way to you, didn't it? As for the Hogwarts Letter – that kind of deep magic goes beyond my understanding – but rest assured that it cannot be employed against you, ever again."

Remus mused, "I've always wondered how the Hogwarts Letter deliveries work. It's beyond blood magic – since it recognizes Blood Adoptions."

"Daddy! Look!" Little Hadrian interrupted the discussion. All four heads turned around to see the little boy use magic to levitate his blocks to assemble a tower.

Forest grinned widely and proudly, "That's very nice, Hadrian."

"Definitely got a young wizard here, Forest," Ivan remarked.

"Yup," Forest agreed. The little boy ran up to his father, who instantly picked him up and settled him in his lap. Even Harry found it hard not to smile.

"Would you two like to stay for tea? We've got a cake with some chocolate on it to share." Ivan gestured towards the empty chairs in between him and Forest.

"We wouldn't be impo-" Harry asked, while Forest hastily interrupted.

"No, we'd be glad for your company."

* * *

_Harry – Agent N here! Since we are doing the spying – Hannah thought we might as well have fun with it. Agent B and I have found out that R. does not know anything about the nefarious plot attempted on the first day thanks to his bloody outburst during Potions last Friday. (And lost us ten points – the selfish bastard!) _

_We need your opinion on something. There's something queer about Quirrell – our smelly Defense professor. For one – he stutters and stammers like crazy. Number two, he wears a purple turban that smells like rot. It's barely masked by the garlic that we suspect that he has tucked into the purple cloth. Yes, I deliberately went up to our smelly and shy professor to ask him a question on Thursday to take a closer sniff under the cover of asking a question. Disgusting! Number three – Our local conspiracist jokingly mentioned that he might be hiding something that smells fouler than garlic before Potions but I think he's hit upon the truth or somewhere along those lines. I think he may be hiding something behind the bloody cloth. _

_I hope everything is going well on your end – Agent N_

* * *

"Ah, what are you reading there, Harry?" Remus walked into a room that was painted a neutral shade of green, with white moldings and a white ceiling. Silver flamed candles illuminated the bedroom. His student was sitting on the big four-poster bed with brown drapes hanging facing the brownish curtains, with a leather-bound book in his hand. A spill-less, self-inking, raven feather quill rested on his green and brown quilt.

Remus sat on the bed beside Harry. He noted that the young boy was exhausted from the day's training but was deeply focusing his attention on the seemingly meaningless scribbles on the page.

"Hey, Remus – this is actually a charmed book that I use to communicate with my friends at Hogwarts. The words are only legible to the owner. They all have matching books."

Remus' left eyebrow quirked up, "Impressive. You would've made an excellent Marauder, Harry."

Harry gave the sandy-haired man a brief smile before summoning his wand and giving a series of taps to the book, so that Remus could read the contents on the thick parchment pages. The older man took a quick glance at the revealed ink.

"Your own spy network too? Albus wouldn't even know what hit him!" Remus exclaimed, excitedly.

* * *

Remus and Forest were standing in Harry's well-furnished and modern Potions laboratory a few days later. Forest came over to Harry's flat almost every day to brew – seeing that Harry and his friends had accumulated the supplies, equipment and wards to make the room safe and well-equipped for Potions brewing of Forest's skill. The man's rapid departure from Massachusetts to London had left him without adequate laboratory space. He had been slaving over the cauldron since early dawn to brew the Wolfsbane that Remus needed starting tomorrow.

Harry was looking after Hadrian in the living room.

"One of Harry's friends mentioned that there's something fishy about one of their professors," Remus said casually to the dark haired man.

Forest replied, "Ah. But there's always something fishy about them."

"So, get this. Professor is a smelly man that goes by the name of Quirinus Quirrell."

Forest almost choked while stirring with a gold rod, "That is an example of what parents should not be naming their children. No wonder they come out odd."

"Took a sabbatical from Hogwarts after teaching Muggle Studies to travel the world and came back to teach Defence according to the Hogwarts local gossip." Remus continued, disregarding Forest's jibe.

"Uh hm," Forest mumbled. He sprinkled a powder in a circular motion into his cauldron. It made a belching noise which both men ignored.

"Also came back with a purple turban and a smell that Harry's friend Neville claims to be rot. Of course, the man goes around reeking of garlic. Their other friend Henry – who seems to enjoy exploring the improbable – mentioned that it's possible that the garlic is masking something else." Remus went on.

Forest Malfoy was silent for a minute before uttering, "Now, that's a change. Think maybe we need to comb over some of my Dark Arts books that I've got locked up back at my place."

The now amber-coloured potion seemed to make a fizzle of agreement.

* * *

_Harry – Agent Ravenclaw reporting! It has been a bustle of activity here, especially with Operation Ghost that I wrote about to you a few days ago. I am still afraid that someone overheard us on Friday, although nothing suspicious has come up yet – and it has been a week since the breach. Everyone's been keeping their eyes and ears peeled just in case. We really need a spot where we can be sure that we aren't being eavesdropped on. It would help a lot. – Agent R out._

* * *

_Harry – Agent Palindrome writing – you get it, right? Shame old D. almost got you the other day. Dr. F. sounds like a nice guy – unlike his other blood relations. M. spreads the nastiest rumors – the little git you ran into in B&B. We haven't made much headway into Operation Why-The-Bloody-Hell-Is-The-Third-Corridor-Sealed yet but we are still hopeful. Heidi misses you. Actually, we all do. I bumped into Hagrid – the Hogwarts gatekeeper on Sunday while trying to look for the Giant Squid, and he invited me to come have tea with him Friday afternoon since we have it off. I might as well bring one of our other agents with me – but it's probably a good idea to not go altogether. – Agent P_

* * *

"Okay guys, this is the seventh floor." Blaise took a deep breath when they stepped up the last stair.

Neville, who was panting, added, "Left or right corridor?"

Henry, who had joined the lot on the way up, looked at Hermione impatiently.

"Left, guys – should be across one of the tapestries." Hermione was the last one of the four to make it up the stairs. Hannah was down in her Common Room – frantically trying to get her Potions essay done for tomorrow – as she had forgotten about it.

The four of them set off at a casual pace, past various picture frames, hangings; statues had a hint of sentience and doors leading into rooms unknown.

"That's the one!" Hermione pointed at a picture of someone attempting to teach trolls the art of ballet.

Henry looked at the tapestry, "Damn, someone must really be nutters to attempt to teach those things."

"What's next?" Blaise was looking around for a door, "We've got to hurry – curfew's almost started."

Hermione looked at the tapestry. Remembering Remus' note on the Room of Requirement to her earlier in the day, she scrunched up her face and started thinking about a spacious hideout. She tried to make it as detailed as possible while pacing the area.

"She's gone bonkers!" Henry looked bewildered.

"Shush! There's a door!" Neville pointed at a simple door that materialized across the troll-dancing tapestry.

The four approached the door cautiously, and Neville opened it. Once inside, the door closed. The four gaped in awe. Half the room was decorated in the study tables and chairs that were present in the Library downstairs – but the chairs were of a more comfortable variety. The other half of the room was more barren, but there were books on Spells, Transfiguration, Charms and etc stacked into bookshelves. It was an excellent practicing space for magic. There was another door on the other side of the room that led to a washroom.

"Woah," Henry exclaimed, "What is this place?"

"The Come and Go Room," Hermione whispered solemnly, "This will be our secret – between Hannah, Neville, Blaise, Henry, Daphne, Millicent, Tracey, Terry, Anthony, Stephen and I. Did I miss out anyone?"

"No," Blaise shook his head, "So what did you ask exactly? So we can find it in the future?"

Hermione thought back, "I asked for a study and research space. A practice space since there's nowhere to practice magic in the castle besides our Common Rooms. A washroom – just in case we need one – I also asked that only the people I listed earlier can enter."

"Seems logical; how did you find out about this place?" Henry was still in awe.

Hermione grinned, "Us Ravenclaws can't divulge all our secrets, Henry."

"Damn, it's past curfew. We better get going." Blaise looked at the sparks that made up the numerals of his Time spell.

* * *

"Fuck!" Blaise swore on the way down to the sixth floor, "Do my eyes deceive me or is that the caretaker and his horrible pet cat?"

Henry peered over the banister, "You are right. Guys, we've got to head back up. And quickly!"

"Peeves!" Hermione cursed when she saw the poltergeist bouncing around the landing of the floor that they were heading back to.

"Oh, please. Don't give us away. I don't want to be manhandled by Filch!" Henry mentally pleaded more to himself, "Why couldn't our common room entrance be on the seventh floor like Neville's?"

Peeves, of course, was reliable. "Ah, icky firsties! Out past curfew! Oh, what would dear Filchie say?"

"Please, Peeves, be a little quieter!" Hermione pleaded with the happily taunting Peeves.

"The Bloody Baron..." Henry gasped at a last ditch attempt.

But Peeves was not to be stopped and continued in a louder voice, "Firsties out of their beds! Ickle firsties – "

"Run!" Blaise broke out of shock and all three scattered like leaves in the wind.

* * *

Blaise was lost – he was running along the fourth floor of the Castle, past unfamiliar rooms and art. It was deserted which only added to the unbearable tension. He hoped the others were alright. He hid behind a statue of armor.

"Ah, my sweet," came the voice of Filch, "We heard the patter of feet this way, didn't we?"

The scrawny cat let out a meow that Blaise could hear clearly from his hiding spot. He leaned forward to look assess the situation. To his horror, the cat was walking towards him.

He bolted towards the nearest staircase.

* * *

"Blaise! Am I glad to see you?" Henry rhetorically asked when he saw his friend dashing past his own hiding spot on the third floor.

"No time, he's behind me!" Blaise hissed urgently.

"Bloody hell!" Henry ran after Blaise, the quick footsteps of the caretaker approaching.

They took the next turn.

"I wonder if Dumbledore would let me use the chains and manacles this time," Filch was heard in horror by Blaise and Henry who put on a sudden burst of speed from energy reserves that they didn't know existed.

"We are fucked! So fucked!" Henry moaned loudly when he realized that they were running towards a dead end with a solitary door that looked locked. When both boys got there, they tried opening the door – it held fast.

"This is the end," Blaise groaned. "Hang on a sec – are we stupid or what?"

Filch's ominous footsteps were approaching.

Henry summoned his wand from his sleeve and pointed it at the door – he understood Blaise's meaning, "_Alohomora!"_

The door clicked.

"Bloody hell, you do realize where we are, do you?" Henry whispered to Blaise. He had just realized that they were at the Forbidden Corridor.

Blaise shrugged, "Well, anywhere is better than here."

The two opened the door with a desperate shove. Henry quietly shut it behind him. And then both of their mouths dropped – in a mixture of revulsion and terror. It might as well have been a scene straight from _Dante's Inferno _– the Cerberus that guarded the third circle of Hell. It loomed over them – saliva dripping from three terrible heads filled with equally horrifying sharp yellow teeth.

It growled.

It was clearly hungry. It made one thunderous step towards the intruders – the first knell of Hell's Bells – and stepped away from the trapdoor originally beneath it.

Henry snapped out of his trance first, opened the door and dragged his frozen friend through, before slamming it shut with an urgent bang and relocked it with a rather viciously cast _Colloportus_. By that time Blaise had recovered and the two boys sprinted in pure fear, nearly bowling over one confused Argus Filch in the process, kicking an indignant Mrs. Norris out of the way and ducking under an astonished Peeves as they dashed for the safety of the dungeons below with Henry muttering darkly about Blaise's famous last words all the way with the remainder of his breath.

* * *

_Harry – Agent B dying here. Merlin, I think W. and I just had our first brush with Death. Well – I know why the bloody corridor is out of bounds. There was a three-headed dog sitting on a door of sorts before W. and I ran out. Heart's still pounding. We almost ran over old Filch and good old W. got us a good kick at that annoying cat of his on our way back. What does Dumbledore think he's playing at? Leaving a monster like that in Hogwarts – separated by the general populace with only a spell that any first-year who's been paying bloody attention to Flitwick in the past two weeks would know. _

_I am hungry now too. Damn it. Please ask L. regarding the location of the Kitchens. Have pity on a growing boy who's been terrified out of several years of his life! _

_-B_

* * *

"Merlin, Blaise, the hell was that?" Henry – who was lying on Blaise's bed exclaimed while Heidi was curled up at the foot of the bed. "Wait until my Father hears of this!"

"Hang on, Henry – don't get too hasty." Blaise frowned, tickling his chin with the end of his quill, "We are going to be the ones getting the blame since we were out after curfew and we were the ones who stepped into the bloody hell-pit, rather voluntarily!"

"But if he didn't keep that hellhound in the first place..." Harry muttered darkly, "Anywhere is better than here." He mocked.

"Sorry, Henry – I didn't expect to see _that_ behind the door!"

"Tell me about it!" Henry fumed, "What on earth is under that trapdoor – anyhow?"

Blaise sat up in an interested and determined fashion at his desk. "I don't know. But we are going to find out."

_;.. Don't do anything stupid. ..; _

"We won't." Blaise slammed his book shut, "We aren't going back in there until we know more."

* * *

The next morning, over at the Ravenclaw table at breakfast, Neville, Hermione and Hannah had arose early and were helping themselves to the extensive breakfast buffet set out.

"Hope you got back alright, Hermione." Neville said while helping himself to a pastry.

"We ran into the troublesome trio," Hermione frowned. "I hope Blaise and Henry got back without getting caught."

"What's the troublesome trio?" Terry asked while getting sliced fruit for Anthony.

Neville guessed, "Filch, his damned cat and Snape?"

"Two out of three, Neville – nice try!" Hermione grinned.

"It was bloody Peeves." Henry strode over to a seat next to Hannah, "Had to give the bloody alarm to Filch."

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today," Anthony remarked dryly, "Henry, I think this is the first time you joined our humble House for a meal."

Henry groaned and ignored the tease, "Last night – was just awful."

"What happened?" Stephen, who was sitting beside Hannah, leaned in.

"_Muffiato!" _Henry incanted quietly.

Terry looked inquiringly at his fork before asking, "What's that spell – haven't heard of it before."

"It makes our conversation sound like buzzing to the others." Hermione whispered, "We don't want to be overheard."

"So where's Blaise?" Neville asked.

Henry shrugged, "I think he went to the Library – got some 'research' to do."

"Blaise? Voluntarily got up in the morning to do research? Are you sure you aren't mistaking him for someone else?" Hannah asked.

"Well... We got a new development in the Third-Floor-Corridor case." Henry said – he then looked at the other three Ravenclaws, "You better keep this to yourselves – alright?"

"Cross my soul, and hope to die. Won't let out a peep – I promise!" Anthony swore.

"Same here, if that's what I think it means." Stephen added, "I am not too familiar with Muggle sayings."

Terry nodded, "We'll keep mum. Especially with all the secrecy around the Binns thing."

Henry told them about what Blaise and he saw last night. The three-headed-dog that was the stuff of nightmares, the trapdoor, and the rather lamely sealed door that led to the terrifying encounter. His audience oohed and aahed at the correct spots.

"Wow, I am impressed you actually remembered to reseal the door," Hermione noted that particular detail, "Especially in the terrified states you guys must have been in."

"Hermione; I may be a Slytherin – but I've got some brains, and I guess – a smidge of daring and nerves. But don't tell the other Slytherins." Henry admitted.

"Your secret is safe with us!" Anthony grinned widely.

"But we need to find out what's the dog guarding," Henry whispered, "It must be important."

Hannah nodded. "We have to find out what Dumbledore is doing. He didn't leave that door sealed with a simple _Colloportus _without reason."

There were nods from everyone.

* * *

"Remus?" Harry walked into his Defence tutor's room. "Can I ask you a question?"

Remus had charmed another bedroom into Harry's flat ever since moving in. His room was rather plain – whitewashed walls and ceilings, with a comfortable hardwood floor. A simple four-poster bed made up of the same wood as the floor stood in the room, with a matching night stand, and desk. Some of Forest's Dark Arts books were sprawled out on the surface of the desk, while pieces of parchment in both Remus' and Forest's handwriting were stacked neatly nearby.

"Ask away, Harry." Remus replied back, he was sitting at his desk, staring out the window that overlooked the valley that was behind the building.

He was looking more tired and grayer by the day as the full moon approached.

"You are a werewolf, aren't you?" Harry inquired; his voice casual.

Remus snapped out of his dazed state. "How did you know?" He and Forest had been careful to avoid mentioning anything about his Furry Little Problem around their student.

"Simple. The day when we fled from Dumbledore – I used my magic to make your hair longer. I felt dark tangles and knots flowing in your bloodstream and between your cell fluids. It also helps that it's a few days from the full moon, and you are looking more exhausted as the days approach. Not to mention the curse scars you have." Harry explained his reasoning, "Also, Forest looks like he hasn't slept well in the last few days. Brewing Wolfsbane – I presume?"

Remus shook his head, "You are too shrewd for your own good – Harry. We can't hide anything from you – can't we? It doesn't bother you – does it?"

Harry sensed the insecurity in the last question, "No, it doesn't bother me. And no, you guys are horrible at hiding things. Forest with bags under his eyes isn't the most flattering sight the past few days. He's grouchy without sleep!"

Remus laughed heartily.

"So what did you learn from Toph today?" Remus changed the topic. He turned away from the window panes to look at Harry.

"Some things – like this" Harry sent out all his energy in the radiating fashion that Toph had him learn and he levitated. By varying the streams of magic, Harry was able to spread his arms up and mimic the flapping of wings – while controlling his flight with magic. It had taken him an entire week of practicing diligently to remove his old habits of casting wandless magic.

Remus grinned, "I see."

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _Harry pointed his wand at Remus, while midflight.

Remus laughed when Harry levitated him and floated him around the room. Like Harry, he copied the flapping motion of birds in pretense of actually flying for fun.

They fooled around almost half an hour when Harry finally relinquished the charm on his tutor and they both landed on Remus' bed with a soft thud.

Harry stood up. "I also figured out this – using almost the same principles." He summoned the energy again, and this time, he ignited his trademark silver fire. Remus gasped when he realized that his student was immersed with fire from head to toe. Harry transformed his fire into arrows and shot them off in every direction before extinguishing them during their launch.

Remus ducked, while Harry chuckled, "The fire I created was harmless! I can make it burn, at will."

"You know what you should try next? Invisibility," Remus suggested a few moments later after processing the possibilities of Harry's newfound potential.

Harry looked deep in thought.

* * *

Blaise, Henry, Stephen and Hannah made their way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest with Heidi jogging leisurely behind them, her silvery fur dazzling in the sunlight. It was an unusually warm day – with a light breeze that gently blew in the air.

"Awfully nice day – isn't it?" Henry observed the weather around him – he had abandoned his robes back in the dorm.

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Stephen teased, "But yeah – it's an excellent day."

Henry feigned whacking the Ravenclaw with his hand – who ducked nimbly and stuck out his tongue.

"Real mature," Blaise, the picture of decorum, remarked.

Both boys stuck out their tongue rather childishly at their serious friend.

"Shush guys – looks like trouble ahead!" Hannah frowned.

The four of them ran behind a tree and peered out to see one Ronald Weasley walking with Seamus and Dean. Stephen was going to ask something about why they were all behind the tree when a familiar drawl assailed their ears.

"My, my... Look guys – it's the boy-who-missed-the-train!" Draco remarked rather nastily to his lackeys.

Ronald Weasley stopped in his tracks. His face flushed red. "Shut up, Malfoy, or –"

"Or what? Stammer at me?" The blond mocked, "Can't even afford a clock – or new robes."

Back at the tree, Blaise whispered, "Can we go – it's not going to end well!"

"Shut up, Blaise – I want to see this!" Henry elbowed his friend.

"We are going to be late for tea!" Hannah cast a quick time spell with her wand.

"Oh Merlin..." Stephen swore when Ronald punched Draco with in the face which immediately mobilized the slow but brawny Crabbe and Goyle to retaliate.

Blaise frowned, "I feel sorry for Neville and my House – those idiots are going to lose us all the points!"

"Let's go!" Hannah and Blaise dragged the other two in the direction of Hagrid's hut, ignoring the din that was being caused by the group of boys in the other direction.

When the group got there – they were immediately bombarded by the barking Fang. Heidi immediately sniffed at the fellow canine and they seemed to exchange thoughts of some sort which calmed the big boarhound down.

They knocked on the door.

Hagrid's hairy but friendly face appeared between the opening and he smiled at the four standing there. "Hannah – yeh came! Just'n time for tea!"

"This is Stephen, Blaise and Henry." Hannah introduced her friends, who rather gave a timid wave back to the half-giant.

"Ah. Make yerselves at home! Nice wolf you've got there!" Hagrid remarked at Heidi, who gave him a rather pleased nod.

The five of them gathered around a rather creaky table and observed the meager surroundings. Hagrid's cabin only comprised of one room – and fowl of all types seemed to hang from the wooden rafters. An enormous bed occupied a corner. Hagrid busied himself – boiling water in an enormous kettle for tea, and piling a generous heaping of rock cakes on a cracked plate.

The four talked to Hagrid about their classes – especially Snape – Hagrid was surprised that even the two Slytherins did not have a good impression of their Head of House.

"I mean – he's unnecessarily nasty!" Hannah exclaimed, while pretending to enjoy her rock cake.

Blaise, who had been discreetly vanishing his away at opportune moments, added, "Especially to the Gryffindors – my friend Neville –"

Hagrid's eyes widened, "Neville – as in Alice and Frank Longbottom's Neville?"

"Yes, that's the one!" Blaise took a sip of his tea.

There was a brief discussion on the Longbottoms when Blaise noticed a piece of crinkly old parchment on the table.

It looked familiar.

Seeing that everyone else seemed absorbed in their conversation, Blaise _accioed _the _Daily Prophet_ clipping with care and tucked it discreetly in the pockets of his robes.

* * *

**A/N: **Fun chapter to write (: Hope you enjoyed it.

Review?


	14. XIV - An Order Awakens

**The Inbetween **- By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N:** I know that you know that I know that I don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**Chapter XIV – An Order Awakens**

"_Homenum Revelio!" _

Forest Malfoy leisurely tossed the spell at the seemingly barren northeast corner of the 'Practice' room. "I see you – Harry!"

"Damn it!" Harry swore when he felt the magic that was cloaking him disintegrate as Forest's Revealing spell came into contact with his invisibility barriers.

The dark haired man grinned rather inanely, "Don't be too frustrated, Harry – it took you three days to come up with a way to become invisible – most wizards take a lifetime!"

"And, I don't think there's a wizard or witch in existence that can counteract the Revealing Spell." Remus added. He was watching from the door that led out to Harry's living room, while Hadrian had his arm wrapped around his 'Uncle Moony's' leg and was watching the proceedings with interest with his bright blue eyes. "You are entering uncharted territory – Harry."

"I am going to do it again – get ready!" Forest said loudly, his wand pointing towards his student.

Harry focused on the magic from his core and reset the 'shield' that surrounded him. He had found inspiration over the past few days from reading Muggle books on Optics, Electromagnetism and Electrostatics. He had then spent time perfecting the structure of the magic based on the theoretics of light in front of a mirror. Then, he had engineered a reversed version of his original invisibility barrier but changed the substance of the magic so that sound waves that originated due to his body could not be heard by those outside. The final step was integrating both structures into one for easy assembly – that had been the most difficult part – but Harry was pleased with his efforts.

It had also been Remus' idea for Harry to find a way to negate the Revealing Spell – which was a spell that Remus said Dumbledore could cast non-verbally. That statement had earned a scoff from Forest – he was also capable of such a feat. Remus then insisted that Forest share his expertise with both their pupil and himself. The amenable Forest had obliged.

When Harry was invisible, Forest incanted again, "_Homenum Revelio!" _

This time, Harry was able to disperse his magical resources that weren't pooled into the barriers to track the spell leaving from Forest's wand. With much effort and difficulty, Harry used his own magic to squash it down towards the ground while maintaining his own shields.

Five seconds later, he dropped his barriers and collapsed on the ground – panting.

Both Remus and Forest had flabbergasted expressions on their face while Harry was busy trying to catch his breath.

"What did you do?" Forest finally spoke, "I felt like we were arm-wrestling or something!"

Harry, still magically exhausted, replied, "I saw your spell leave your wand. Instinctively – since I know the _Revelio _family of spells spread out over space... I forced it down before it could spread very far."

"That is – that is." Remus was still a little shocked, "Incredibly powerful magic. I've never heard about anyone who was able to stop a spell by forcing the path of the magic."

"It probably helps that Harry can 'see' the magic, Remus. There's not many of those around." Forest had recovered his wits as well at this point.

Hadrian, at that point, had left Remus' leg and had walked over to Harry, who had now sat up from his original exhausted position on the ground. "Harry!"

Remus nodded to both Forest and his student. "We will call it quits for today – but tomorrow – we are going to do non-verbal Revealing spells on you so be ready."

* * *

"So, what do you have there – Blaise?" Henry had barged into his friend's room five seconds ago and he was looking down at his friend, who was staring at a carefully unfolded, but old and crinkly piece of parchment at his desk.

Blaise had spent his Saturday evening after their visit to Hagrid setting up an extensive layer of wards on the entrance to his room, and only keying Henry in. Likewise, he then helped Henry set up his own ward system. Setting up wards on one's doors was actually a common practice among the upper years of Slytherin as secrecy was a highly valued asset by the Snakes. In fact, the fifth, sixth and seventh years had an annual warding competition amongst both genders – as a result, classes such as Ancient Runes were taken seriously by the Slytherins.

The reward was respect and prestige – two other attributes favoured highly by Slytherins. Henry and Blaise, upon hearing about the annual tournament, had begun reading up on Runes and wards. Blaise traded such information to Harry, who in term would provide his own advice on such matters.

Blaise, who had been immersed in the parchment in front of him, was jarred by his friend's question.

Henry smirked, "So, what's so interesting about this clipping from – let me see –"

"August 4th," Blaise answered for his friend, "The date isn't on the parchment – you blind bat!"

"Hey, kindly refrain from bat jokes! Those are reserved for the Head Bat, himself!" Henry grinned – referring to their Head of House.

Blaise laughed, "Right."

"But seriously – why so serious about this old _Daily Prophet _paper?" Henry persisted, "And why do you know the date this issue was issued?"

"Here," Blaise picked up the newspaper and handed it to his best friend, "Read."

_Gringotts Break-in Latest_

_Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing has been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we are not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon. _

"So..." Henry was not connecting the dots, "What's so special?"

Blaise sighed, "I found this scrap at Hagrid's. I thought it was rather curious that he would have this lying around. I mean, I scrapped mine when I was done with the _Daily Prophet_ that day. I remembered it was August 4th. It's curious how certain things stick in your mind."

"Curious, curious..." Henry's conspiracy neurons were beginning to fire.

Blaise continued further, "I mean – you know what I think?"

"What do you think, Blaise?" Henry looked rather impatient.

"I think that Hagrid must have kept the clipping because he was involved in some way. He might have been the person who emptied the vault that day on behalf of Dumbledore before the attempted theft." Blaise elaborated. And what's the only other place safer to keep anything?"

Henry thought for a moment. "Bloody hell! You don't think..."

"I do think!" Blaise exclaimed, feigning being insulted.

Henry ignored him and pressed forward. "That our friend – the three-headed-dog-of-my-bloody-nightmares is – "

Blaise finished triumphantly, "Guarding whatever the contents of the vault are!"

"Bloody hell!" Henry shouted again after taking a few seconds to fully process Blaise's statement.

Blaise winced.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk. He was annoyed.

Excruciatingly annoyed.

On the previous fateful Saturday, he had dropped a brief visit to Harry's Aunt and Uncle – and he had been baffled when Harry's Uncle claimed that Harry had ran away despite all the care and attention was lavished upon him. He had then probed their minds with his pricks of Legilimency to discern how the boy ran away. He had neglected to obtain the memories of Harry's mistreatment during his miserable time at the Dursleys. He saw Harry, jet black hair sticking out in every direction, with the Potter glasses, emerald green eyes and the scrawny figure of the child whip fire at his only living relatives before fleeing with a fearsome black snake with a strange yellow marking on his forehead.

Dumbledore had looked at Harry with disgust at his behavior towards his relatives during the memory abstraction.

_This wasn't the child I assumed he was going to be._

The logical step after his little visit to Privet Drive was to Remus' humble abode in the outer edges of London. Remus, being James' last dedicated friend, might be a possible source of information. Much to his irritation – Remus did not answer the door.

Assuming that the man was out doing the odd job for a living – Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts to run a few errands – school related and to also to ensure that his trap and bait for his possessed DADA professor were ready. He couldn't scrap his original brilliant plan just yet. He had every intention of finding Harry, bringing him to Hogwarts and manipulating him to enter and retrieve the stone.

Plus, there was that promise to Molly.

The next day, Albus returned to Remus' house, and seeing that he still wasn't home – he took the time to dismantle Remus' extensive ward system for the meager little house. He had been greeted by silence, and the only sign was the half-drunk tea that sat on Remus' dining table. There were two teacups present, so Albus immediately deduced that there had been two people. One of the chairs was knocked askew, so Albus had a feeling that the occupants may have had left in a rush.

He had pointed his wand down at the floor to perform the Feet Tracking Spell – a spell favoured by Aurors. As the magic washed over Remus' shabby tiled kitchen floor, two sets glowing footprints led to the backdoor and to the middle of the garden. The trail had stopped there.

Albus frowned. Apparition always made things more complicated.

Using an obscure Apparition Tracing spell he attempted to follow the Apparition path.

Much to his horror, he landed in the middle The Serpentine – the eastern half of the lake at Hyde Park. He felt his elaborate robes absorb the water from the lake – it wasn't raining so he didn't bother with a Water-Proofing Charm – and he felt the weight drag him down.

He spluttered in an undignified manner.

And he realized he couldn't simply apparate out of the lake, as there were Muggles around. None of them seemed to have noticed his entry in the body of water, so he quickly cast the Water-Proofing Charm on his robes followed by a Notice-Me-Not spell and apparated back to Hogsmeade.

The old wizard swore once he had arrived back at the village. He had just remembered why his no one bothered with Apparition tracking these days. The accuracy of the spell diminished proportional to the coldness of the trail. Even when the spell was used right after an apparating person, the spell would usually be off by a few points of a degree in latitude and/or longitude.

Not to mention that his quarry would be long gone from the Muggle park by now.

He had then returned back to Remus' house and reset all of the wards that he had taken down, while adding some of his own. The old wizard had added an Alert ward just in case Remus decided to return.

During the rest of the week, Remus had not returned back to his house. Albus also packaged Portkeys into Owl Post and there were two Hogwarts barn owls, with said packages sitting on his windowsill. They had not left his office – which meant to Albus that Remus and Harry were in hiding in an owl-proofed location or they were dead.

_It's time to call the Order of the Phoenix to assemble. Ah, my minions._

* * *

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Hermione halted the discussion that was brewing between Blaise, Henry, Stephen, Neville, Hannah and Daphne at the Room of Requirement, "You think... that the attempted theft at Gringotts has something to do with our three-headed Cerberus at Hogwarts?"

"Yes." Henry replied, his fingers twirling a quill, idly over his half-written Potions essay.

Daphne then spoke, "Then I guess what's in the vault is very important. But there's a point that bugs me."

"What's perplexing you, Daph?" Stephen asked.

The brunette thought for a moment, "If the contents of the vault were so precious... why a simple _Colloportus_ on the door?"

"Maybe he's counting on his dog-from-hell to scare intruders shitless?" Neville contributed, looking up from his Transfiguration essay.

Blaise frowned, "That makes no sense. I found a book the other day..."

He paused, unsure. _Something just wasn't adding up._

"Care to elaborate, Mr. Zabini?" Hannah who had been leisurely doodling in lieu of doing her Charms assignment prodded.

"Yeah, Mr. Zabini!" Henry jumped in.

"Alright!" Blaise leaned forward, his elbows propped on the table shared by all the conversationalists, "It was a book about magical creatures. And it had a section on three-headed-dogs..."

"And..." Stephen was getting a little impatient.

Blaise continued, ignoring Stephen's interruption. "You can put the scary bugger to sleep with music."

"Bloody hell!" Henry groaned. "Should have brought Daphne along with her violin last week when we paid a visit to our three-headed-friend's room."

"And..." Blaise continued, drawing all the attention from his friend back to him, "Anyone could have gotten their fingers on that book. It's not in the Restricted Section or anything."

"So what does this mean?" Hannah questioned.

"It means," It was Henry who opened his mouth this time, "That Dumbledore is most likely trying to lure the thieving bugger to whatever is on the other end."

"It makes sense!" Neville picked up the reasoning, "But that also means..."

Hermione interrupted with her flash of insight, "The thief is at Hogwarts!"

"Merlin!" Henry almost jumped out of his seat at Hermione's statement. He followed Hermione's words with musings of his own. "Must be one of the bloody professors or a Polyjuiced student seeing that this thief had enough guts to break into Gringotts and not get caught!"

"You know what, guys?" Neville broke the thoughtful silence that had fallen after Henry's last statement, "I think we better keep tabs on our sketchy professors."

"I bet you ten Galleons that it's Quirrell!" Henry grinned.

Stephen retorted with an equivalent grin on his face, "That stuttering man? He looks too timid to do such a thing. I will take your bet. Probably it's our favourite Bat of the Dungeons!"

Their conversation dissolved into topics of less importance.

* * *

On Friday, a dark falcon swooped through one of Harry's opened windows and interrupted breakfast between Forest, Remus, Hadrian and Harry. As standard, Harry inspected the rolled up scroll of parchment gripped tightly in the bird's fearsome grey talons. After deeming it harmless, Harry held out his hand and the falcon dropped its cargo.

He unfurled the parchment.

_To all this may concern:_

_Albus Dumbledore, the Leader of the Order of the Phoenix, has mobilized the Order once more. The sole project: Find Potter. Albus has stationed Order members at various strategic places, including the Leaky Cauldron, Gringotts, 4 Privet Drive, Honeydukes (don't ask why!), the Ministry of Magic and the old Potter Place. Members of this Order include Hestia Jones, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Severus Snape, Arabella Figgs, Mundungus Fletcher and lastly – Alastor Moody._

_I will be sending by a guard to this location. Code word will be Pig Snout. _

_Mad Royal Soot_

The falcon happily helped itself to the freshly sizzled sausages that had been laid out on the table while Harry read the message with a mixture of confusion and comprehension.

"That's Ivan's bird." Forest remarked at the black feathered bird.

Remus looked surprised, "Why a falcon?"

"This is no ordinary bird, Remus. This particular species is _Falco tenebrosi_, a rare breed of falcon that used to be used exclusively by the elite of the Wizarding World centuries ago, especially in Oriental countries. Its letters cannot be intercepted by any means known to wizard. These birds were referred to as the Dark Messengers centuries ago." Forest explained patiently as the two men waited for their pupil to pass on the news.

"Who's Mad Royal Soot?" Harry looked perplexed as he pushed the letter to the other two.

Remus and Forest peered at it.

The werewolf frowned, while Forest looked completely baffled.

"Looks like Dumbledore has finally reconstituted the Order." Remus said after a few seconds of reflection, "We have to be more careful from now on."

"Ivan said something about a spy," Forest added, "I suppose this Mad Royal Soot is it."

"Oh, that's easy to decipher – it's an anagram!" Remus grinned, "It's old Mad-Eye!"

Harry and Forest were both clueless.

"Alastor Moody?" Harry asked after a few moments. He pointed his finger at the signed name at the bottom and used magic to rearrange the letters.

Forest returned to his food before the falcon could get at it. "Who's he?"

"One of the most famous and successful Aurors to have ever walked in the Ministry; most of the cells in Azkaban are filled because of him." Remus explained, "He has a wooden leg, a magical prosthetic eye and a chunk of his nose missing from past battles."

Forest mused, while attacking his stack of pancakes, "Sounds like quite a character."

"Quite – doesn't quite describe it." Remus replied while stabbing his fork into a juicy sausage on his plate before the falcon made a grab for it.

The falcon seemed to pout.

Remus then looked puzzled, "But I don't understand why Alastor would defect from Dumbledore. He's very loyal."

"Sometimes, Remus, people are thrust into circumstances in where, the inexplicable occurs." Forest suddenly looked extremely grave, which made him look almost a decade older than he actually was.

Harry had a feeling that Forest was speaking from experience.

* * *

"So, what are we doing today?" Hermione asked Hannah as they walked along the third floor from their last class of the day.

They were heading for the Room of Requirement – where they gathered every day since Hermione had discovered its magical seemingly sentient properties. Members of their little group would usually stay till curfew pursuing various activities before heading back to their own dormitories.

They had been busy during the past two weeks. Research was gathered on Educational Law and the political history of Hogwarts by Daphne's task force, which had recently added two more Ravenclaws to the team – Padma Patil and Su Li. Blaise and Hermione had started teaching everyone the basics of Occlumency – including meditation techniques – so it was becoming a rather common sight to see people sitting cross-legged on mats in the Room while fortifying their mental defenses. Occasionally, one of the original four would suddenly attack their fellow students' barriers as a test. Neville, Henry and Hannah had also begun an 'extras' section. On Saturday and Sunday, they would hold an afternoon session on a useful topic, such as the useful applications of _Wingardium Leviosa_ and things beyond the First-Year curriculum such as the _Expelliarmus_ (Disarming) Charm.

Blaise, upon finally discovering where the Kitchens were, would often sneak food for everyone in to the Room of Requirement. Much to both Henry's and his own disappointment, they had tried to will the room to make them a feast – being the hungry gluttons they were - , but only a long dining table had appeared, with all the cutlery and beverages.

But alas, no food had appeared.

Hannah replied to Hermione's question, "Well, we've got the Potions essay due on Thursday, and I have some other assignments from Charms to do."

"I was talking to Blaise earlier about wards." Hermione whispered, "Oh, I will tell you when we –"

"Shush a moment! I hear voices!" Hannah pointed in the direction of the Forbidden Corridor. Hermione inconspicuously cast a Silencing Charm at both their feet while the two quietly dashed off to the source.

Normally, all the students evaded the staircase nearest to the banned Corridor, but ever since Blaise and Henry's encounter with the dog-from-hell, the members of their group had taken to using that particular set of steps to get to one floor to the other – just in case an interesting development occurred.

It was usually deserted – except for the ever-cruising Filch in search of prey – or misbehaving students.

Hannah and Hermione nimbly ducked behind a statue of armor, in a convenient alcove. They peered through the gap between the wall and the armor and saw two of their professors. All they could make out were snippets.

"- don't know where your loyalties lie, Quirinus – but you seem to be aw-"

"- loyalties lie. If you really are a true follower -"

"- the dog - "

"-don't know -"

"-how -"

"- the stone -"

"-later - "

At this point, the two professors had walked past them, and parted ways. Hermione had quickly cast a mild and non-verbal Notice-Me-Not Charm before the pair of adults had passed their hiding spot. Fortunately, neither of them bothered to spare a glance at the alcove in the deserted Corridor and walked on.

Minutes later, the two girls left the spot and headed up to the Room.

* * *

Harry apparated to the backyard of the Leaky Cauldron, his charcoal grey robes swirled as a gust of wind blew. None of the wizards or witches within the vicinity were interested in his arrival. Ever since Ivan's training, Harry had become less scrawny, but rather lean and toned. He was still thin, but that lent to his body a graceful elegance.

He exuded power and confidence.

Stepping into the rather grimy pub that Harry had called home during his first foray into Wizarding London, he located his dark-haired Potions tutor and his son sitting at a rather dingy corner. He walked up to them.

"Forest, Hadrian." Harry greeted curtly, but there was an undertone of warmth.

"Grey." Forest nodded. His son shyly waved a greeting to his favourite baby-sitter.

Harry pulled out the third chair from the table and sat himself down. He glanced at the menu and mentally picked what he wanted before sparing the rest of the occupants of the pub a glance. Harry, Remus and Forest had been amusing themselves by playing Spot-the-Order-Member during the past few days. So far, Remus being the most familiar with Dumbledore's henchmen – was in the lead. Forest and Harry had pored over Wizarding pictures sent by Ivan to familiarize themselves with the members of the Order.

A familiar black-haired witch wearing blue robes seemed to be busy with her copy of the _Daily Prophet_ but Harry recognized the woman as Hestia Jones_, _an Auror. Harry had briefly scanned her mental defenses a few days ago – they were solidly fortified, but he knew he could break them if he wanted to. Harry saw Jones discreetly scan her surroundings. She rested her eyes curiously at the occupants of their table, but she ended up smiling at Hadrian, who was busying himself with the building cutlery towers.

He found it fascinating that Remus, and himself walked freely in Diagon Alley in midst of Dumbledore's spies without being noticed.

Appearances seemed to be everything.

Harry's dinner of grilled haddock on a bed of greens arrived and he tucked in. Forest merely looked inquisitively at the woman that Harry had been examining early before looking down at his own meal.

He winked at Harry, who smiled back.

* * *

"So, something about a stone?" Blaise mused.

Hermione nodded, "We overheard Quirrell and Snape discussing the Forbidden Corridor."

"How did you know?" Neville asked; his tone was serious.

"They mentioned the dog in the conversation." Hannah added – looking up from her parchment of doodles.

Hermione thought for a moment, "I don't think they know how to get past the beast. Quirrell did mention something along the lines of I don't know."

"That's a big problem." Henry frowned. "There are many possibilities that arise from the scenario you guys have witnessed."

"Yeah – I agree with you, Henry." Hermione sighed, "I compiled them yesterday during History of Magic." She pulled out a sheet of blank parchment and double-tapped the sheet with her wand. Inky handwriting appeared.

_1) Snape and Quirrell are teaming up to get the Stone._

_2) Dumbledore informed one of them that the other is the thief and is using said Professor to keep an eye on the other. (But which?) _

_3) What in Merlin is the 'Stone'?_

"Could be some gemstone with magical properties," Henry added his thoughts, "I mean, there's stories about the Golden Emerald."

"How can an Emerald be gold?" Neville looked confused.

Henry explained, "Some mage from a long time ago infused so much magic in a gemstone that it changed colour."

"We will have to figure out this Stone business another day." Hermione yawned, "It's almost curfew and I don't want a repetition of the day you guys met our Cerberus, even though we now know Silencing Charms and Notice-Me-Not Charms."

"Ditto," The others packed their texts and other things away, before heading out their hangout towards their toasty beds.

* * *

**A/N: **Shorter chapter than the last one. Lots of questions regarding pairings – noticed that most of you aren't too fond of the slashy stuff so if there's any it's going to be read-between-the-lines (i.e. so implicit you probably wouldn't know it unless you are reading deliberately for it) so don't worry about it!

For example how one could interpret Grindelwald/Dumbledore slash from DH.

It's way too early to think about pairings right now – but if you got a favourite – give a shoutout via a review or something. It may or may not influence what actually happens in the story. Romance will not be the strongest factor in this story – I don't think – but it will be there!

But hey – give it a shot!

Oh and btw – this is definitely NOT a Ginny/Harry story just in case you missed the fine print.


	15. XV - The Secret of the Chocolate Frog

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own this, don't own this, don't own this.

* * *

**Chapter XV – The Secret of the Chocolate Frog**

_Hannah, Neville, Blaise and Hermione – Grey writing – It is indeed intriguing that the Gringotts theft article was discovered in the Gatekeeper's abode. From intelligence gathered from various reliable sources – it is safe to say that our favourite git of the dungeons is on Dumbledore's side. If B. and W.'s theory holds true – Snape is keeping close eyes on your twitchy and timid DADA professor. _

_Remember that appearances are deceiving. _

_I asked my guardian re. the 'stone'_ _a week ago. He's been muttering something about something he had seen on a Chocolate Frog Card all week! I don't have too much time on my hands to investigate this further, but nevertheless – I hope that our bunch of friends can solve the puzzle._

_Start with Dumbledore's card. _

_F. and L. are still combing through Dark Arts books re. Q. _

_May the magic be with you!_

_G. _

_PS: Be cautious. There's more to this that meets the eye and L. and F. are extremely worried about the happenings at Hogwarts._

* * *

"You got the goods?" Neville looked up from his book on Curses and asked when Henry staggered into the Room of Requirement with a gigantic wooden crate.

Hannah rolled her eyes as she watched the dark-haired boy drop the box onto the floor with a grunt, "You could've just levitated the box, Henry."

Henry shrugged, "Got to work the muscle, guys!"

That elicited giggles and laughs from the various occupants of the room as Henry flexed his muscles in an exaggerated manner.

"I hope you didn't drag that box all the way from the Owlery, Henry," Blaise said rather sharply, "What if you ran into-"

"Don't be daft, Blaise! I shrunk it and brought it up here!" Henry rolled his eyes, "I am not that stupid."

"What's inside?" Daphne, who was busy writing her Transfiguration essay at one of the tables, asked with a curious glint in her eye.

"Be care -" Hermione started when Blaise pulled out his wand and pointed it at the box.

"_Alohomora!" _

"Ful." Hermione half-groaned when the box was opened and coloured blurs exploded from the box and chaotically spread throughout the room.

"Bloody hell! How many Chocolate Frogs did you bloody order?" Stephen looked bewildered as he watched a frog with yellow foil hop across his Charms textbook nonchalantly.

Henry shrugged sheepishly at a grinning Blaise, "Well, you guys said that you wanted a lot of frogs of the chocolate variety..."

"You knew that would happen, didn't you?" Hannah accused Blaise, who still hadn't removed his mischievous smirk off his face.

"Okay, so what do we do with these?" Su almost shrieked out as a frog hopped onto her shoulder, and onto her black hair, "These things jump so high!"

"Simple," Neville caught a frog mid-leap rather suavely and started removing the bright green foil, "We eat them!"

"All of them?" Daphne looked horrified, "There must be hundreds!"

"Six-hundred... to be exact," Henry winked, drawing shocked stares from the rest of the room's occupants.

Even Blaise gaped like a fish.

"Free chocolate!" Terry Boot yelled with the glee of a chocoholic. He had long deserted his book on Human Transfiguration and was half-way munching through his second frog.

"Sometimes, I think you have way too much money," Tracey shot an extremely amused look at her money-laden friend.

Henry grinned, "One can _never_ have too much money," which earned him a playful slap from Daphne.

Anthony had _accioed _his and was removing the wrapper. Several people who had been vainly chasing the agile frogs froze and looked rather sheepishly at the Ravenclaw's use of magic. His method caught on pretty quickly.

_Accio _had been one of the Charms that Neville had introduced to the group last weekend.

"Someone give a shout if they come across a Dumbledore card!" Hermione called out before she joined the chocolate eating, frog-catching frenzy that was threatening to consume the Room.

* * *

Forest sighed as he poured over the Dark Arts texts that he had out in front of him in Harry's living room. Remus had taken Hadrian out for lunch as a special treat and Harry was at Ivan's having various lessons.

A sudden rap-tap-tap was heard from the door.

The pale man closed his eyes and tuned himself into the wards that he, Harry and Remus had spent the weeks contributing to. The Identity Ward wasn't picking up on a known person; they had taught it to recognize the Order members. His own Dark-Detecting wards weren't picking up any Dark traces on the individual at the door, and the Window Ward revealed to him a woman with shockingly electric blue hair wearing the traditional Auror trainee robes.

She knocked again.

Forest banished all his books, quills and parchments with a flick of his wand. He knew some of the items he had out would be classified as illegal, and made his way to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Pig Snout – is what you are looking for? Sent by Mad Royal Soot via Dark Messenger," The young witch spoke curtly.

Forest wove his wand in a complicated manner, and the magical locks, wards, and other blockers disassembled with a simple clicking noise. He opened the door and admitted the witch, who was assessing him curiously.

He noticed that her mental defences were almost faultless. Forest gestured her to come inside and shut the door. He repeated the complex motions with his wand, and a snapping noise was heard as the wards went up.

"Impressive," The witch observed the reset.

Forest nodded, "Aye, we worked hard."

"You are?"

"Forest Malfoy. Did Mad-Eye not tell you who you were supposed to meet?" Forest spoke, a wry smile made its way to his lips.

"Malfoy? Are we related?" The woman looked aghast, "I am sorry, but the last thing I expected was to see a Malfoy behind the door."

"Apology accepted. Now, who are you?"

Forest politely took the blue-haired witch's cloak, and led her to Harry's leather sofa. She tripped over the rich dark wooden coat stand, knocking it over while Forest barely managed to catch her before she hit the floor. Once she had regained her equilibrium, she summoned her own wand and righted the stand and the clothing knocked ajar from the stand.

"I'm a bit of a klutz," the woman admitted after apologizing profusely, "I am Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks. Call me by my first name, and I will hex you into oblivion!" The last part was said with a playful air.

Forest chuckled and mock-held-his-hands-up, "Woah, calm down, Dora... may I call you that?"

Tonks sighed with a seemingly aggrieved air before relenting, "Sure."

"Do you know why you are here?" Forest cut into business, while quirking his eyebrow at her dramatics.

Tonks groaned, "It's all very confusing. Mad-Eye told me to come here during my free time - and even consider living here. He didn't even know who I was supposed to meet! And then, this other barmy man – Ivan-was-his-name-I-think – made me swear an oath to not reveal who or what I learn here. I can't even tell my mentor – Moody! It's giving me a migraine -"

A loud click from the front door caused both of them to jump. Harry pushed through, his dark cloak trailing after him. Tonks looked at the newcomer with interest.

"Forest! You didn't tell me you were entertaining a date! I think I better make myself scarce!" Harry looked amused at the flabbergasted expression of his Potions tutor's face before turning around to head outside.

"You better not, young whelp!" Forest looked mock-threatening at his pupil, "She's pig-snout by-the-way."

Harry raised an eyebrow inquisitively before shutting the door.

"This is Dora, Harry." Forest introduced.

Tonks looked annoyed; she better nip this in the bud before there was an epidemic of people calling her Dora, "Call me Tonks!"

"Hey, Tonks," Harry extended his hand.

She shook it, "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Is it safe to tell her?" Harry looked at Forest.

Forest nodded, "She swore the oath –"

"Tell her what?" Tonks interrupted, "And if you are talking about that oath; yes I did!"

"May I?" Harry asked, "Sorry. But this information cannot be picked up by the wrong people."

Tonks got Harry's drift. She nodded.

Like the gentlest of breezes, Harry gently nudged aside Tonks' barriers which she helped disassemble from her part. Tonks showed him Moody and their bewildering conversation and the meeting of Ivan. The oriental man had her swear an oath with no loopholes.

When Harry was satisfied, he retracted himself from Tonks' mind, and she slammed down her shields.

Harry gazed at her for a long moment. He whispered quietly, "Do you recognize me?"

Tonks looked at Harry thoughtfully, taking into account the shoulder-length dark hair, the emerald green eyes, the lean body and the well-cut clothes that the boy wore. "No, I can't say I recognize you."

"Does the nickname the Boy-Who-Lived ring a bell?"

"Merlin!" Tonks looked shocked, "Harry Potter! There were rumors going around that you were missing around the Auror gossip! How old are you, now? Eleven? Your Legilimency skills are unique! If you hadn't warned me beforehand, I might have missed your probe!"

"Now, do you know why Ivan asked you to swear the oath? We all know Mad-Eye has ties to Dumbledore and we hear through the grapevine that Albus is trying to get his hands on him." Forest spoke.

He summoned a tray with a pot of tea, three china teacups and a platter of English muffins, well toasted and buttered.

Tonks looked baffled, "Why does Dumbledore want Harry?" She helped herself to a muffin. "This is good!"

Between Forest and Harry, the pair of them guided Tonks through the abuse that Harry endured through the hands of the Dursleys and Dumbledore's role throughout. They also shared with her the recent developments that were going on with the Weasleys and the message that Moody himself had sent them. Forest ended up summoning his pensieve - an elaborately carved stone affair, with runes and a detailed carving of an animated dragon that wrapped around the basin.

Forest had taken to stashing some of his more valuable items at Harry's place due to all the wards in place.

Harry recognized the Runes around the dragon: _Wren, the Guardian of Memories._

It snorted a puff of silver steam upon landing on the coffee table.

Harry ended up sharing some of his more horrifying memories with Tonks.

Tonks was actually more disturbed by how Harry watched the events with a detached, emotionless expression.

When they were done, she was silent in thought.

* * *

"Ugh. I am dying!" Blaise groaned, surrounded by the colourful foils of all the chocolate that he had devoured within the past hour.

Hermione – the only one who knew her limit seeing that her parents were dentists – grinned rather cheerily, "I told you! Should have stopped at the fifth frog!"

All around them, people were stuffed from the frog-hunt – and there were still plenty of the chocolate amphibians bouncing around.

"Did we at least find what we were looking for?" Hannah, who was sitting beside Blaise asked while flipping through her own stack of newly collected cards.

Everyone who was well enough to do so was also scanning their spoils of war against the frogs for the card.

Half a second later, a loud "I found it!" punctuated the air. Daphne walked towards Hermione and handed her the card. Hermione took it and examined the bespectacled old wizard who seemed to be doing the same to her, before vanishing from the picture.

People peered over Hermione's shoulder to read the contents of the card.

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragons blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten pin-bowling._

"Okay, we already knew from before that Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald," Hannah noted after she had finished reading.

Daphne added, "The stuff about the uses of dragon's blood is pretty much irrelevant – people can easily get that without breaking into goblin-run banks."

"The last sentence is useless," Neville stated, "Which leaves us with –"

"The bit about alchemy!" Millicent exclaimed as a pair of chocolate frogs hopped around her.

"Okay, so what do we know about alchemy?" Henry, who seemed much recovered from his chocolate binge, asked. He scooted over to sit beside Hermione.

Anthony replied back, "Well, one of the main purposes of Alchemy is to discover how to learn non-precious metals into gold –"

"And to find a way to live forever!" Terry butted in. He had immobilized several of his frogs with a Binding Curse and stuffed his pockets with the frogs for later consumption.

"So who's the Flamel guy?" Neville asked them.

"Some bloke famous for his work in Alchemy," Stephen contributed.

"Well, considering that he has his name on the card..." Hermione started as Terry reprimanded his fellow Ravenclaw for stating the bloody obvious.

"Looks like the Library is our next step, anyhow," Su suggested, "I think we can get started on that today – it's dinner soon and I highly doubt any of us are in any state –"

"That's what you think!" Blaise had gotten up from his previous moaning position from the ground and started heading out, "A boy's got to have his dinner!"

"Wasn't he the one complaining about eating too much, minutes ago?" Padma whispered to Hermione, who shrugged.

"Some of us better show up to the Great Hall... looks suspicious if most of the First years don't show up." Anthony vanished his chocolate frog wrappers, bound a few of the frogs up like Terry, and starting stowing away his stuff.

A good chunk of the group went down for dinner, while a few paid a little visit to the Library, leaving the frogs to have free reign of the Room.

* * *

"I think – that I should take some of these memories to the Ministry, anonymously." Tonks suggested after much reflection, "At least that way, we can have some part of our arses covered."

Forest nodded, "That may be wise. It may not be long before Dumbledore influences the Ministry to go on a big Harry Hunt mission."

"It's not just Dumbledore that I am worried about."

Forest raised a questioning look at the blue-haired Tonks, as did Harry.

"There have been rumors in the Auror department that Lucius Malfoy is about to make a very generous bribe to Fudge in return for the issue of a manhunt through that method." Tonks frowned, "There have been negotiations –but it's all been hush-hush."

"Ah, Lucius, my half-brother " Forest looked somewhat amused, "Not that I've met him, of course." He quickly turned to Tonks whose eyes had opened widely at his admission.

"Draco must have sent a letter to his Father when I failed to show up at Hogwarts," Harry thought for a moment. He stretched his arms and yawned.

"Sounds plausible," Tonks agreed, "I will keep my eyes open at work. I don't think we will have too many problems at the moment – no one knows what you look like – Harry except for the rumor that you look like your father. But I see that you've changed your appearance very well."

As she said that, she transformed herself to resemble a female version of Harry. Her blue hair darkened and straightened, her eyes turned green and various other features morphed.

Forest gawked.

"Dear Merlin, you are a bloody metamorphmagus!" Forest almost spluttered much to both Harry and Tonks' amusement.

Harry summoned his own magic and turned his jet-black hair into a shade of dazzling blue, darkened his own eyes and transformed his other features to resemble Tonks' former state.

"You are one too?" Tonks looked at Harry from head to toe in awe.

Harry shook his head, "I am not a metamorphmagus. It's a different kind of magic."

Forest laughed heartily, "Nymphadora Potter and Harry Tonks!"

Harry and Tonks shared a grin and broke into their own fits of laughter.

"You know, for a Malfoy, you aren't that bad!"

Forest smiled fondly at his young student. He was glad that Harry had learned to laugh during the month that he and Remus had been around.

* * *

"We are glad that you could meet us on such short notice, Amelia," Professor McGonagall who was dressed in forest green robes, and her hair tied up in the usual stern bun sat down in a wooden chair.

"Likewise!" Professor Flitwick almost squeaked. He was sitting on a stack of textbooks, piled up neatly on a chair identical to the one Minerva had taken.

"Anytime," Amelia, the square jawed, grey haired Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement nodded. "How may I help you Professors today?"

"We came to you regarding Harry James Potter." Filius' voice was serious.

Amelia gaped, "The Boy-Who-Lived? James' child?"

"That's the very one, Amelia," Minerva confirmed.

"Let's have some tea," Amelia summoned her own wand and a tray containing all the necessities of afternoon tea zoomed and came to a halt at the table.

She poured a cup for each professor, including herself.

"There were rumors around the Ministry that Harry Potter had vanished." Amelia spoke, after she took a sip of her strong tea.

Minerva nodded, "This appears to be true. Harry's name has been scratched out from the Hogwarts' enrollment list after his guardian had sent in a Gringotts Anonymous Letter."

"I suppose there's no point in asking you the identity of his guardian?" Amelia asked.

Filius shook his head, "We tracked down the Muggles that Albus had sent him to live with –"

"Harry? Sent to Muggles?" Amelia looked horrified, "Any Wizarding family would have been glad to take him in!"

"That wasn't even the worst part." Minerva said gravely, helping herself to a biscuit.

"We discovered that the boy was very badly abused during his stay at the Dursleys – his non-magical relatives," Filius continued, "He ran away as soon as he could."

"We did use some Legilimency." Minerva admitted, "They were obviously lying when we were interrogating them."

"In fact – if you have a pensieve?" Flitwick inquired.

Amelia summoned her pensieve. Unlike Forest's, it was rather plain, with a few basic Runes etched on the sides. Minerva extracted a tendril of silver memory with her wand and dropped it into the shimmering fluid-substance of the basin.

The three dove in.

* * *

"Ah, Tonks, I hope you enjoy being the only female of this all male club!" Remus chuckled at dinner.

Tonks shrugged, "Most of the Aurors are blokes, but I can usually outduel most of them anyways – even though I started a few months ago."

"Impressive, indeed." Forest grinned, "Better watch myself, then, Dora!"

Tonks sighed. She could not break Forest out of his habits now.

"This is excellent, by the way!" she exclaimed, over the dinner spread that Harry had spent an hour preparing. There was a bone of ham, a potato salad, stir-fried vegetables influenced by Ivan's cooking and tureen of vegetable soup.

Forest waved a fork, "It's all because of Harry that we usually get five-star meals every day – only when he's not too tired from training – like today."

Hadrian burped.

"So, do I get my own room too?" Tonks asked.

Forest grinned, "Feel free to charm your own!"

"Merlin, seriously?" Tonks looked at Forest, then Remus, then Harry.

"Well, I charmed my own room," Remus added, "As did several other of Harry's friends before they went off to Hogwarts."

"My flat's nearby, so I don't really need a space here." Forest said after swallowing.

Harry teased, "You keep moving your stuff in here – we are going to have to demand that you get your own room – Forest – before I start charging rent!"

Remus laughed.

"It takes at least a week to charm a room, properly!" Tonks exclaimed, "And that's providing you don't blow anything up in the process!"

Remus smiled gallantly, "I will do it."

"Well, seeing that there's already seven rooms in this flat that weren't part of the original structure and nothing seriously went wrong –" Forest mused.

"Seven rooms?" Tonks looked shocked, "I am pretty sure that violates some principles of magic!"

Harry shrugged, "Well, none of them have collapsed yet, and I checked the magical foundations themselves – they are solid. I actually check every day just in case there's a fracture or crack in the magic."

Tonks eyes widened, "You are a mage, Harry? Very few people on the planet possess that kind of skill! Do you have an element – too?"

Harry held out his right hand, palm facing down. He clenched his hand into a fist and the flat went dark, similar to a Muggle power outage. Harry actually didn't need to do the gesture to kill the flames, but he figured that he might as well provide some evening entertainment for their new 'member'.

"Bloody hell, Harry!" Forest groaned, "You didn't have to snuff out all the fire!"

"Show-off!" Remus exclaimed playfully.

* * *

"You know, I think we should do something cool." Henry suddenly said out loud back in the Room. The frogs from the previous eat-a-thon were still bouncing around and everyone figured they might as well leave them there for future snacking.

"What, Henry?" Hermione looked up from her book. She was reading _Hogwarts: A History_ for the umpteenth time.

Neville interrupted, "How many times did you read that book? You must have committed it to memory by now!"

Hermione ignored the tease.

"Don't we do enough cool things? Like stalking professors, holding covert Operations, and learning things beyond our year?" Terry exclaimed.

"So what's your idea?" Hannah leaned forward – she was sitting across from him.

"Let's become Animagi!"

"Merlin, isn't that supposed to be extremely difficult?" Daphne exclaimed.

Neville added, "People do that for their Transfiguration Masteries, you do realize that?"

"But, it's bloody brilliant!" Blaise defended his friend's idea.

Su replied, "Isn't it illegal to be unregistered Animagi?"

"We could register when the world becomes a less corrupt place," Henry thought for a moment, "I mean, if we are careful..."

"And you know what? I think we should do it!" Anthony, who just looked up from his Charms assignment, agreed.

"It may take us years though." Hermione looked thoughtfully.

Blaise shrugged, "So? We've got years. Plus, we should have a long-term project to focus on."

"Alright, then – Henry, Anthony and Padma should collect all the information on the Animagus transformation." Hermione had turned on her laptop and was looking through a spreadsheet that she had created – detailing the responsibilities of each member. She had the spreadsheet locked under special protective passwords and wards keyed to herself.

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Anthony saluted Hermione.

Henry grinned determinedly, "Don't worry guys – we can do this!"

* * *

When Amelia, Minerva and Filius had emerged from the pensieve, the former looked particularly shaken from the events she had witnessed from Minerva's memories. The abuse, from Amelia's long experience in Law Enforcement, was pretty bad. She didn't blame Harry for leaving, not at all – especially the method that he had chosen.

After a few moments had passed, Filius asked, "What steps do you think is advisable under these circumstances?"

Amelia frowned in concentration and picked up her teacup. A few moments later she had formed her response.

"I think, you better leave these memories with me. I will submit them anonymously to the DMLE's evidence Pensieve. We can't exactly lay charges on Albus because his infringements in this case are very minor under current Wizarding Law. But we may use them for when he starts throwing his political weight around and wants access to Harry. However, we can submit these memories to the Auror squad responsible for Muggle misdemeanors that relate to our world and we can definitely convict the Dursleys for the abuse inflicted to Harry."

"So, what do we do about Harry? And is he needed to testify for the conviction?" Minerva asked.

Amelia sighed, "It's not necessary for him to be there – no. But the evidence that you have submitted has shown beyond a reasonable doubt that Harry was abused. We will have Petunia and Vernon Dursley tried under a Wizarding Court. As for finding him – there's a deal in the works with Fudge and our good friend Lucius," she grimaced at the Head Malfoy's name, "To go on a Harry Hunt."

"Will we be penalized for the use of Legilimency?" Filius looked concerned, "I mean, we want to cover all our bases too."

Amelia shook her head, "Your memories also show that your use of Legilimency is warranted. But we will probably need you two to show up in court to testify – if that's fine."

"It would be better if Dumbledore doesn't get a whiff of this, if possible." Minerva had a rather cat-like expression on her face.

Filius added, "He doesn't know that we've gone against his wishes – and we wish to keep our jobs at Hogwarts."

Amelia nodded, "I think that will be possible. I will keep in contact with you two."

Minerva and Filius got up to leave. The short part-goblin Charms Master clambered down his stack of texts and the pair of professors bade their leave to the head of the DMLE.

* * *

Harry stood in a fighter's stance, his hand gripping on to his wooden stick. It had been over a month since he and Ivan had been brandishing sticks around, and as the weeks passed, the accumulation of bruises on Harry's part had diminished greatly, while Ivan found himself sporting a blemish or two from his determined young pupil.

Ivan broke his own stance and charged.

Harry parried his first thrust and the two nimbly dashed around the room, trading blow after blow. The battle was fast and furious – both sticks were a blur.

The duel was cut short by a loud 'crack' and Harry realized that he had snapped his mentor's stick in two. Ivan paused to look at the fractured splinters of the half he had left in his hand.

He then turned to look at his student. There was a glint in his unfathomable dark eyes.

"Impressive. You have improved greatly since the beginning of September," The man paused again, thinking, "I think, Harry, you have outgrown our little sticks of wood. Wait here."

Harry was baffled when his mentor walked through a tapestry that was hanging on a seemingly solid wall. He darted towards the tapestry, and using his magical 'sense' he realized that the section of wall that the cloth had been hanging on was a simple illusion. He stuck his hand through, experimentally.

He returned to the centre of the barren living room and waited.

Five minutes later, Ivan was cradling what looked like a sword in a scabbard in his hands in the same manner that he would hold his wandcraft. He offered the item to Harry.

Harry took the blade and sheath with the same reverence that Ivan had shown. The scabbard was made up of an unknown metal with leather. The leather was jet black, while the metal shone brilliant silver. Harry cautiously pulled the blade out. The jet-black hilt was a hand and a half long – which Harry noted that it could be held with one hand or two. The pommel stone was what Harry thought resembled a diamond, but it seemed too smooth and spherical for that to be true. The blade was wrought out of the same silver that the scabbard had, and under the light of the living room, it displayed its iridescence – which rather reminded Harry of the scales of a fish.

There was a rune inscribed on the base of the blade – which Harry recognized as 'Despair'. It seemed to be such a grim word. He ran his magic through the blade and discovered it to be brimming with magic – especially the stone at the pommel – it was an ocean of magic.

"This blade – is wrought with history." Ivan began to speak. "It was forged many centuries ago, not by Goblin, but a friend of Goblins. This wizard, Hans Kohler, did his best to forge ties between both races – but nevertheless was powerless to stop the brewing Goblin War that followed at the end of his life. He was the only wizard privileged to learn the secrets of the Goblins, and his swords are one of the most prized and honoured by both Wizards and goblins – alike."

"How did you come across it-" Harry was beginning to ask before Ivan continued.

"I did a favour for a Goblin, and this was his gift in return." Ivan sighed, "He has loaned it to me and any wards or descendents that I may have. The possession of this blade will grant you standing with any of Goblin-kind as they know the events that have transpired."

Harry was about to ask about what events but Ivan interrupted again, "That is a long and complicated tale for another time. Being a mage yourself, you will appreciate that precious stones can store magic. Hans himself was a mage and the element gifted to him was the Wind. You can also summon and return this blade the same way you can with your wand and holster. So now..."

"Why the name 'Despair'?" Harry asked, tracing the rune with his fingers. He had slung the scabbard across his back since he was too short to hang it comfortably at his waist.

Ivan looked sadly, "This was the last sword that Hans forged before he died. He was anything but happy. Now on to business!"

Harry's guardian showed him how to block and dull the sharp edges of the blade so that the weapon wouldn't cut them to smithereens. Ivan finally summoned his own blade, which had a silver hilt, and a blade whose metal was so dark that it was almost black.

Ivan commenced pummeling him with his dark blade.

* * *

"Ooh, fancy weapon you've got there, Harry!" Tonks remarked when she saw Harry's blade, "Maybe you and I can have a go sometime."

"Not today, Tonks," Harry grimaced, rubbing at the numerous bruises that he had acquired after training, "I don't think I can handle being thrashed twice in one day."

"You can use a sword, Tonks?" Forest looked up from his parchments and books from the living room couch towards Harry and Tonks who were standing next to the dining table.

"Hell yes!" Tonks grinned, "My mother taught me. All the Blacks learned how to use a sword with minor exceptions."

"Fight you sometime," Forest challenged.

"It's a pureblood thing?" Harry questioned.

Tonks answered back, "It's a tradition that's dying out. My mother and my Aunt Bellatrix," she made a disgusted face at the latter name, "learned. Aunt Narcissa never got the hang of it."

"My mother made me learn." Forest acknowledged, "Needed a sport to keep her son out of trouble."

"I am pretty sure that your old mother needed more than sword fighting to keep you out of trouble." Tonks teased.

"Hey, hey! Play nice!" Remus had just walked out of his room, "On a more serious note – I think I might have an idea on what's wrong with the smelly Defence professor at Hogwarts."

"Really? You do?" Forest, who had been thinking of a witty remark as a comeback, exclaimed.

"So what's wrong with Quirrell?" Harry asked.

"I think – he's been possessed."

* * *

**A/N: **What do you think?

Review?


	16. XVI - An Albanian Tale

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Like I said before – don't own it.

* * *

**Chapter XVI – An Albanian Tale**

On the first Saturday of October, Hannah, Hermione, Blaise and Neville's little group were sitting in round-table fashion in the Come and Go Room. The desks had been pushed together to form one large platform, where each friend could have room for a book or a piece of parchment and quill. Hermione had her laptop open, and a parchment and quill for note-taking. Everyone was talking, the conversation topics both consequential and not.

Blaise cleared his throat and began. "So, this is our third meeting. Thank you all for making it. I just want to remind you guys that we will also have an 'Extras' session thirty minutes after our meeting is finished."

Blaise had been appointed the so called Master of Operations. His responsibilities included scheduling and planning events and getting the word out, discreetly to the right people. It also helped that he had Heidi, who could inconspicuously pass on messages via mental communication. As the term progressed, people were increasingly getting busier and busier.

Hermione pulled out her spreadsheet from the desktop of her laptop and scrutinized the contents, before asking, "Status of Operation Ghost?"

Daphne spoke, "We've found Laws regarding incompetent Professors. The main law goes along these lines: should the appointed Professor be proven to be reasonably incompetent by the Hogwarts Board of Trustees, a replacement will be forced upon the Headmaster."

"Proving incompetency can be done in several ways," Terry continued, "An assessment may be done by the Board itself, or a third-party panel chosen by the Trustee who brought the motion to the attention of the Board. Usually, third-party panels consist of a balance of current professors, Ministry officials, and ordinary civilians."

"That doesn't seem too bad," Neville remarked, after digesting the information.

Stephen spoke up, "But we did hit a snag after finding the law. Apparently, the Trustees have tried attempting the removal of several professors over the years, including our favourite Professor Snape -"

A few snickers were heard from the gathered.

"So, how did you guys find that out?" Hannah asked, after the guffaws petered out.

Terry answered back, "We combed through all the Daily Prophet issues in the past decade –"

"And had it confirmed by Henry's dad, Master Edward Winters," Daphne finished, "I've been writing some letters to him -"

"What? You've been writing letters to my dear old daddy without consulting yours truly?" Henry feigned offense.

"Oh, come on Henry, we've met your father loads of times," Tracey grinned, "He was quite amicable to our letters. He quite agrees that Hogwarts is overdue for a full-assessment."

"He's already started talking to Board members that are not strong supporters of Dumbledore," Daphne continued.

"We are just looking for the reasons why the previous motions in the past failed, before really getting into it." Terry added, "I mean we have a feeling that Dumbledore has been pulling a few strings here and there. Master Winters also brought up this issue as well."

Hannah nodded, "I think that last point is very important. We probably have one chance to throw the motion and catch the Headmaster by surprise -"

"And it's important we do it right." Hermione agreed while jotting down her own notes on the parchment in front of her before moving on, "Good. Let's talk about Operation Creature. Henry?"

Padma and Anthony helped Henry empty his bag and they pulled out many books. The assortment of reading material was varied – battered, dog-eared tomes, recently purchased books, thick compendiums, and a few journals. Titles included _Ten Easy Steps to becoming an Animagus_, _Finding the Animal Within_, _The Biology of Animal Transfiguration_ as well as several notable Transfiguration journals such as _Transfiguration Today_, _Change_ and a rather controversial journal in Wizarding Europe that Daphne recognized.

"Where did you get that?" Daphne pointed at the thin journal titled _Hybrid_.

Henry grinned, "I have my secrets."

"What's so special about _Hybrid_?" Hermione asked, "Sorry for my ignorance."

"Yeah, please explain," Blaise added on to Hermione's question.

"Have you ever been to Wizarding America?" Terry questioned, but after seeing Hermione, Blaise and several others shake her head, "It's a lot different there, then it is here. The reason why _Hybrid _is banned in Wizarding England is that our society is ridiculously prejudiced against Muggles. It's a journal where Muggle knowledge is fused with Wizarding magic. In fact, most European countries with the exception of the more forward-thinking France and Germany frown upon the publication or that's at least that's what my American aunt told me when my family took me to New York over the summer."

"Wow, how come we don't know this? This is the stuff that they should be teaching us in History of Magic!" Hermione picked up the journal. The cover featured an animated picture of a DNA helix surrounded by various other structures in fluorescent colours. The background was black. The word Biology was written below the bold and bright title of the periodical above.

"I only knew about it because I visited America right before Hogwarts, and my half-blood Aunt had a subscription to _Hybrid_. I was bored at their house and starting reading some of those that she had lying around." Terry said.

Henry added, "My dad doesn't really give a damn about blood purity, but he keeps that quiet. He's a closet what Muggles call scientists and his Mastery is in Curses. He looks for ways to negate the supposedly irreversible damage that darker curses leave. Lycanthropy is a favourite topic of his. I just simply asked him to get me a copy of a journal that had something on Animagi."

"So he gave an illegal journal to you? It was that simple?" Daphne looked bewildered.

"He's just happy that his son has developed some interest in something other than food and Quidditch." Henry replied rather dryly, "Besides, the Ministry doesn't think twice about parcels containing books – illegal or not – they've got other fish to fry."

"Okay, so literature aside, what did you guys figure out?" Hermione quickly got the meeting back on track.

Anthony quickly answered, "We were mostly focusing on theory the past few days, since the article in _Hybrid_ was titled _Animagi Transformations: What Really Determines the Animal Within_. There were a lot of Muggle biology stuff that I didn't understand, nor did Padma or Henry so we cobbled up some other textbooks courtesy of Henry."

Padma then added, "But it was worth it. It's pretty cool, once you understand what the article was saying. Basically, your animagus form is already predetermined from birth. It's in what's called the DNA of your cells."

"DNA is the code that creates life, basically." Hermione knew that bit.

"How did they show that?" Su inquired.

"Basically, they found a lot of registered Animagi in the States and basically pieced together their DNA. It took a long time, but people who had the same species of Animagi form had the same pattern in the same place of their genetic makeup." Henry explained, "Genetic makeup refers to DNA."

"But what about variations between the same species?" Stephen asked, "I mean, like animals are different coloured, different sizes, etc."

"That's the amusing part. Animagi forms tend to have characteristics similar to your human form so it takes information from other parts of your DNA. Such as eye-colour and birthmarks and stuff." Terry explained.

"That is pretty awesome, guys!" Millicent exclaimed.

Neville then asked after a brief moment of thought, "Did they take a bloke who wasn't an animagus, screened him for a pattern and got him to learn Animagi?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah, they did it for several people. Some people ended up having forms that weren't already in their data bank, but the ones who did have matching sequences."

"But of course, screening ourselves to discover our Animagi forms is pretty unrealistic. We don't have the materials, it costs a lot in this day and age, takes months to do, and the people who are familiar with this stuff are an ocean away." Padma finished off, "We will get back to you on more technical aspects of the transformation, hopefully next week."

"Sounds like you guys have read a lot this week," Hannah remarked.

Hermione cut in, "Sounds good. So our next order of business -"

"Third floor corridor," Blaise interrupted.

Su immediately responded, "Stephen, Millicent and I have been looking up stuff on Nicolas Flamel. At first, we were looking through books that dealt with recent milestones in Alchemy - "

"But we found zilch!" Stephen finished off for his fellow first year.

"So, we went a little deeper," Millicent added, "Turns out the man is over six hundred years old."

"That's not exactly recent, isn't it?" Su asked rhetorically.

Blaise exclaimed, "Bloody hell, six centuries! How does he achieve that?"

"We are getting there, Blaise," Stephen replied back.

Millicent asked the group, "What do you guys know about the Philosopher's Stone?"

There were shrugs all around.

"Well, it's a legendary substance that can turn non-precious metals into gold and make the Elixir of Life. As long as the alchemist keeps ingesting the Elixir, they will not die." Su explained rather dramatically, her brown eyes flashed.

"Merlin! The holy grail of Alchemy!" Blaise whispered in awe, "And he succeeded!"

Hermione exclaimed eagerly, "And it's right here - "

"In bloody Hogwarts! Beneath the three-headed sodding dog!" Henry interrupted Hermione, his voice bordering on hysteria.

"But Professor Quirrell wants it? Doesn't he?" Hannah had just placed together all the puzzle pieces and said in solemn contrast to the more excitable Henry.

"But why?" Neville jumped in.

Henry replied back, "He's desperate to have it too, if he risked his neck down in the bowels of Gringotts."

"Damn, I guess we will just have to find out." Anthony said rather grimly, "We've got to keep a close eye on our smelly you-know-who."

* * *

_Hermione, Blaise, Hannah and Neville – Grey and L. writing – we've got some serious news for you guys. Turns out that W. was right about Quirrell's stench hiding something smelly. His symptoms seem to suggest possession by some form of spirit or Merlin forbid, a soul fragment. _

_Possession is a nasty thing to have happen to anyone. The spirit usually forces his/her way into a host. Usually, souls will have an easier time doing so, as they are magnetically attracted to the earthly flesh that they'd once inhabited. As a result of this grisly act, the person's body will begin to decay. This does not happen because there is a second soul anchored to the body, but rather, the act of possession appears to cause the manifestation of some disease that no one appears to have an answer why. Other side effects include nervousness and stuttering. Quirrell doesn't have long to live, most cases of the possessed only live up to a year. This last fact was quoted from a recent article in Supernatural._

_F. also had an interesting suggestion. It is very likely that Quirrell is using a Glamour charm upon himself to cover the extent of damage since the possession. No, this does not mean you guys should charge in there and cast a Finite Incantatem during class. It will no doubt be a horrifying sight, not to mention dangerous as souls and spirits of unusual strength and power are capable of possession. _

_It is perhaps wise, at the moment to watch and wait. Keep your eyes peeled for both Snape and Quirrell and see if you can find out what exactly has Quirrell under its grasp. F. and I (L.) are looking through exorcism rituals. _

_On a lighter note, we've been joined by a new member – T. _

_Cornfields have ears, beware!_

_L. and G._

* * *

"It looks like that we are going to have to be involved in this possession business," Forest put down his own copy of _Hybrid – Biochemistry _on Harry's coffee table and placed his hands in his lap.

Remus quirked an eye, "Really, what makes you say that?"

"For one thing, it's incredibly dangerous for the students of Hogwarts to be taught by a possessed man, and I have a really strong feeling –"

The werewolf interrupted, "It is very unlikely that Dumbledore isn't aware of the state of his DADA professor when he came back from his sabbatical."

"I totally concur, Remus. The castle should have wards alerting him to such a thing anyways considering how steeped in magic Hogwarts supposedly is."

"It's in Hogwarts: A History." Remus confirmed and took a seat on the other couch that Forest was currently occupying.

"Ah." Forest summoned a bottle of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey from the kitchen. Using his wand, he removed the cork stopper and poured two glasses full.

"Harry's going to kill us if there are marks on his table." Remus mused.

Forest scoffed, "Are you a wizard or not?"

Remus nodded, ignoring Forest's jibe, "You know that very seedy pub down at Hogsmeade?"

"No, I am afraid, I don't. I am not familiar with the Hogwarts area." The long dark-haired man shook his head.

"It's known as the Hog's Head. Gossip's aplenty there! I think we should take to frequenting the pub on the weekends. We can ask Harry to help us with disguises since his morphs seem to last and are resistant to Finite Incantatem since it isn't your usual everyday Glamour charm." Remus said, with a rather thoughtful look on his face.

He sipped slowly from the glass, the familiar feel of the liquor burning down his throat in a rather comforting manner.

"Yeah, Harry should consider a career in plastic surgery _sans _plastic since he actually physically alters your features." Forest said rather seriously, "Earn bucketloads of money in the good old USA."

Remus smiled, "I can undo his alterations, but the counter-transfiguration spell is long and complex." He remembered that day when Harry had altered his hair during their run with Dumbledore on their tails. It had taken a lot more than a Finite Incantatem to revert his hair back to the original state.

Both men jumped when they heard a scream coming from Tonks' newly charmed room. Remus became aware of the firewhiskey that he had spilt on his pants. Forest hastily cast a drying spell over the mess and the pair got up to investigate the sound.

* * *

Harry was wandering through Diagon Alley. Ivan had let him off early for today, and despite the exhaustion and bruising from the swordplay, he was feeling restless. Zaliss had vanished in the past few weeks without a word or sound to anyone, and he had no idea where the big snake had gone. Remus was getting him to learn how to do the wand-work properly these days, which was very frustrating for Harry since he had no need to wave or weave his wand the correct way to cast his magic. Forest had explained that, this way, people would underestimate his dueling skills.

"Well, well. We meet again." Harry was startled out of his thoughts when the aristocratic drawl of Lucius Malfoy assailed his ears. He cursed himself for not paying attention, again.

"Hullo, Lucius." Harry noted the man's neatly tied back blond ponytail, his expensive robes and the grey eyes that seemed to shine with what Harry determined to be interest.

"Draco seems to take a strong liking to you; wants to hex your guts out," Lucius said with grim amusement.

Harry snorted, "He ought to get a new hobby."

"You interest me, young man." Lucius mused, examining Harry, noting that the boy had grown taller, and a lot more fit over the time they had last ran into each other at Borgin and Burkes, "Your mind is blank as a slate, and there's something about you... that's awfully unsettling." He paused for a long second, "Who are you, really?"

Harry grinned, rather amusedly. He found it hilarious that Lucius was spending so much effort trying to find Harry Potter, only to be unknowingly having a conversation with his intended prey. _Oh, the irony_. Forest, Remus and Tonks would definitely have a laugh at this encounter.

"That's for me to know, Lucius." Harry replied rather cryptically with his best aristocratic air, "Who I am, is not important. But you can call me Grey."

"Harry Grey." Lucius said slowly, enunciating each syllable, "So young, yet so powerful. Draco was wrong to pick a feud with you. I expect great things... Yes, great things from you."

"Um. Thanks." Harry was rather flabbergasted by the elder Malfoy's words, but his Occlumency training easily kept his face neutral.

The Head of the Malfoys bowed respectfully to Harry, before walking off.

"Man's bonkers." Harry thought to himself and headed towards home.

* * *

Remus and Forest burst into Tonks' room, to see Tonks point a wand at a very long dark snake that had been curled up on her bed. The snake seemed unfazed by the wand the Auror was holding up, and was rather surveying at the scene with amusement. His tongue flicked several times, taking in the human scents that perfumed the air.

"Put the wand away, Tonks. Zaliss is harmless." Remus sighed, "You scream bloody murder, woman."

"I do not!" Tonks indignantly turned to Remus, "And, please tell me why a monstrous snake is harmless?"

Forest grinned, "He's Harry's familiar. Leave him alone, Tonks. He's been roaming around during the past few weeks."

Tonks spluttered, "Harry has an odd taste in pets."

Zaliss hissed and lunged towards her, playfully, causing Tonks to recoil with his every movement.

"Oh, Zaliss, leave her alone." Forest grinned. The snake merely looked at Forest with one of his beady eyes before slithering off the bed.

"Zaliss, you've returned!" Harry's voice was heard from the front door. _:. Where have you been? .:_

Tonks' eyes widened at the Parseltongue.

"Sorry Tonks, I inherited it from one of my ancestors." Harry turned back towards her. Tonks' mouth dropped further, if that was possible.

Zaliss had started wrapping himself around his Master's body. Despite his length, he was thin enough to wrap comfortably around Harry. _:. I've been to what you guys call the zoo. I also know where our dear professor Quirrell has been during his leave. I slithered far to find out. .:_

Harry started translating his conversation with Zaliss for the benefit of the others' in the room. "You can ask him questions too, he quite understands English." Harry had added.

_:. Why the zoo? And why didn't you say anything? .:_

_:. It was a hunch and I was curious to see the Magical Snake exhibition. It was not my intention to look for information on Quirrell. I had no idea that it was going to take me three weeks to finish what I started. I wasn't sure if there was anything fruitful that was to be found on the other end. But I was lucky. Albania exported a few of their Snakes for the Wizarding portion of the London Zoo a while back. Got some information from her, Belinda was her name. A pretty snake; like her namesake. Rumors of dark remnants and a strange visitor who sought glory who left with more than he had bargained for – another soul. .:_

Remus looked aghast, "A soul. That makes things more complicated. You know what that means, Forest?"

"Yes." Forest nodded gravely, "But go on, Zaliss, I take it you hunted till the very end?"

"But wait, how did you know about the possession before we figured it out?" Remus asked.

_:. I didn't. I just thought it was strange that a Professor would go on sabbatical and return a greatly changed man. I knew it was the man we seek because Belinda said the man left with a purple turban, stuffed full of garlic. The smell of rot was even unbearable for the tongue of snake. Yes, a great hunter will hunt for its prey till the end, and with patience and wisdom, I travelled to Albania. Not a very daunting prospect as it may seem. Got onto the winged machine. .: _

"Airplanes? Bloody hell!" Forest exclaimed.

Tonks looked surprised, "Those metal birds that Muggles fly in? How did you know which went where?"

Zaliss hissed onwards, _:. I can read. I lack the voice-box to speak human-tongue, witch. Being invisible and non-metallic is very handy for getting through what non-magical folks called airport security. I can be invisible even to Wizarding folk, if desired. So, my bird flew me to Albania, where I found the Dark Forests teeming with creatures of all sorts. .:_

"So what did you find?" Harry asked this time.

_:. Many of my brethren. They said to me, "The great spirit of the forests had left." When I asked them who the Great Spirit was? They replied, "Our Lord Voldemort." .:_

Tonks, Remus and Forest were shocked and flabbergasted this time.

"You-know-who! Bloody hell!" Remus gasped.

Forest sighed, "Trading one problem for a bigger problem; that's what we do best."

"Fucking hell, you've got be kidding me, Zaliss!" Tonks exclaimed.

The snake looked sadly upon his human audience. _:. I only wish I was. During the past year, a man by the name Quirrell showed up in the forest, triggering excitement from everybeast in the vicinity. He thought he could seek fame and fortune for the discovery of the Dark Lord's remnants. He thought he would be strong enough to take on the weakened one that was once the household name of fear in Wizarding Europe. But the spirit was desperate and relentless. At the end, he forced his way into the man's body, and the man, consumed with fear, is now living a cursed life. A life with servitude with no bright light in sight. .:_

Everyone was silent at the end of Zaliss' tale of bad news.

The Dark Lord was back and in Hogwarts.

* * *

_Hermione, Hannah, Neville and Blaise – G. Here – I have grave news. The possessor of your DADA professor is none other than You-Know-Who himself. I suggest you keep this information amongst your little group members and no more. He's after the Philosopher's Stone, because he is dying, and no doubt the Dark Lord wants to sustain Quirrell's body at all costs. If you really want to confirm your suspicions, look to the Forbidden Forest, F. wouldn't be surprised if Quirrell's started slaughtering unicorns for their blood. _

_Zaliss found out this information on a little trip to Albania. He's done good work and we are ninety-nine percent certain that V. Is indeed the soul that has Quirrell in its clutches. _

_As usual, be cautious, especially with V. on the loose._

_G._

* * *

"Bloody Merlin! You-know-who is back!" Blaise exclaimed, rather angrily in the Room of Requirement. He had taken Harry's message and copied it onto another piece of parchment. He then used his wand to enlarge the parchment and the writing so that everyone could see.

Hannah sighed, "And he's apparently the damned spirit that lives in our DADA professor's body."

"Nothing good is going to come out of this." Neville added his own premonitions, shaking his head slowly.

"Okay guys, calm down." Henry, being the voice of reason, told everyone to shut up. A few moments of silence followed before Henry spoke again, "Let's gather our bearings here. Running around like scared headless chickens isn't going to solve anything."

"But, but – he's you-know-who!" Anthony cringed.

Millicent shouted, "Yeah!"

"But he's also so pathetic, that he had to steal someone else's body." Henry retorted.

"And, he's teaching us." Su looked disgusted.

"Okay guys, plans. That's what we need." Blaise cut through the growing anxieties that were threatening to overwhelm the room.

"Okay, so we know you-know-who is being hosted by our dear Professor Quirrell," Terry took a deep breath and said, rather shakily.

Padma added another known fact, "Quirrell is after the Philosopher's Stone."

"Severus Snape is keeping an eye out on our possessed Professor." Daphne noted.

Henry thought for a moment before adding, "Which hints that our Headmaster knows very well the darker nature of our timid DADA teacher."

Millicent looked shocked at that revelation, "But why? Why would our Headmaster knowingly let the Dark Lord into the school? Does he not care about safety?"

"That's what we don't understand either." Blaise sighed, "It's a very sinister plan, on both parts."

"Strike two on Dumbledore." Terry concluded with dry humor, "One for not chucking Binns, and two for turning a blind eye to Dark Lords hiding in the bodies of his Professors."

"Strike what?" Stephen, being a pureblood, was confused.

"We should probably keep this information to ourselves." Blaise decided, "One, we don't need Dumbledore or Voldemort knowing that we know as people have ears in the most annoying places. Two, it will create mass hysteria in our school or people will see us as walking loony bins. Three, so we can keep at least our plans rolling. It won't do for everyone to know what's past our Cerberus."

"Wait, so how do we know for certain it's the Dark Lord? I mean, we see your letter, but how accurate is our outside help?" Daphne asked, "Why not something else?"

"We've got information from reliable sources outside Hogwarts." Blaise explained, "We can't tell you about them now without their permission, but if you guys could be patient till Christmas?"

Terry nodded, "Seems fair. Plus it kind of makes sense in a twisted way, really."

"Yeah, Dumbledore wouldn't have let just any old possessed fool into Hogwarts. He just had to pick the guy with the Dark Lord sticking in his body," Henry said, his sarcastic streak was making a comeback.

"Probably did it so he could keep track of him." Hannah added, "But why do I have a feeling that isn't all there is to it."

"Beats me, first we find out that there's a three-headed beast in the castle, then a Philosopher's Stone in said castle, a Professor who is smelly and possessed, and it turns out the bloke's been commandeered by old Voldie himself." Neville counted on his fingers, "I wouldn't be surprised if there was another twist somewhere else."

There were nods of agreement.

"Okay, so back to plans." Henry steered the subject back.

"We need to ask Hagrid about Unicorns in the Forbidden Forest." Hannah said, "If Quirrell really is suffering, there's a good chance he might resort to..."

"What's so special about Unicorn blood?" Su asked.

Terry sighed, "Su, I thought you paid attention in Potions! Get with the story!"

Su nodded, "Oh Merlin that was the topic from last Wednesday. But anyhow from what I remember reading from our textbook, Unicorn blood will save you at the brink of imminent death but leave you with a cursed life. And Quirrell being in the devastated state he is in now, he's got everything to gain, with nothing to lose."

"And that makes him dangerous." Blaise interrupted, "We have to be careful. He and Voldemort have shown their capabilities when he succeeded in breaking into Gringotts."

"You know what this means?" Neville whispered gravely.

"What?" Everyone leaned closer to Neville.

"We've got to get the stone before Quirrell gets there, and send it off to our friends to decide what to do with it. It's not safe here. Dumbledore is playing with Fiendfyre, and with Fiendfyre..."

"It can get out of hand, easily." Daphne finished as most Wizarding children knew what Fiendfyre was. It came up in a popular Wizarding fairytale. "And seriously, Dumbledore has made some really bad decisions. He may have bitten off more than he can chew this time."

"I will go ask Hagrid about the unicorns next week when I go for tea, like I do every week," Hannah said after a brief moment of reflection, "Anyone want to join me?"

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter will probably be up on Sunday. (EST)

Review?


	17. XVII - Missteps

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Whoops, I kind of lied. Chapter posted two days early! You might get another one on Sunday.

Don't own. So please Keep Calm, and Carry On.

* * *

**Chapter XVII – Missteps **

Neville sat in one of the many squishy armchairs of the Gryffindor common room, his leather bound journal in his lap and he was staring into space. The atmosphere was warm and cheery, with a real log fire burning merrily in the marble and brick fireplace hung with the customary scarlet and gold House banners. He had finished all his homework earlier with Blaise and Henry in the Room. The three had become inseparable friends and could be seen hanging together during non-curfew hours, their preference was outdoors on nice days, and roaming the castle on rainy ones. The Kitchen was their favourite place to camp out, and they would gorge on elf-made treats. Neville was sure by now that he could walk to the Kitchens and back to his dorm with a blindfold on.

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the cushiony upholstery. Neville was bored, and he was waiting for a response from his Slytherin partners in crime in hope of some fun later this evening.

As a result of his Slytherin friendships, the Gryffindor trio consisting of Seamus, Dean and Ronald gave him a wide berth. Neville strongly suspected that it was Ronald's influence that had caused Dean and Seamus to ignore him altogether. However, Lavender, Parvati and Kaitlyn would still talk to him about mundane happenings and they would happily make wisecracks about several of the incompetent professors. At least the girls showed more maturity, Neville mused.

"Hello, Neville." Fred Weasley, or was it George, interrupted Neville's thoughts.

The other twin continued further, "We noticed that you look forlorn and bored, so we decided to come cheer you up."

"Sorry, that our brother's being an excellent prat and somehow managed to get all the other Gryffs to ignore you, but I suppose that's because –"

"He started off on the wrong –"

"Foot. And he's got a lot to live up to, you see,"

"Youngest of six brothers, one a successful and cool cursebreaker at Gringotts,"

"The other, gifted on the pitch and went chasing after bloody dragons,"

"Percy, our stuck up, Prefect 'perfect' brother,"

"And us! And we aren't exactly –"

"pushovers." Both twins grinned widely both at themselves and at Neville at the last pronouncement.

Neville wasn't really getting the point of the conversation, but he listened. There was something oddly charming about the twins. It was quite impressive that they could finish each other's sentences so naturally and so accurately.

"But, we aren't here to defend him. We just wanted to see if you were willing to –"

"Play Exploding Snap with us and Lee over there. You see, it's better with four than three."

The blond boy found himself being steered towards Lee, who was already setting up the cards of the game, by the freckled but good natured Weasley twins. Neville, his reflexes greatly improved due to practice with playing Exploding Snap with his friends, was able to be a formidable opponent.

After what was probably the twentieth explosion of the game, the twin that Neville guessed was Fred pulled out his wand and casted _Muffiato_. Neville's eyes widened.

"Don't look so surprised, we learned it off you guys." The twin deduced as George spoke, "We figured out the wand movements by observing you guys whenever your group eats at the Gryffindor table and we tried it out ourselves."

"We might be slackers and delinquents in school –"

It was Lee who then interrupted, "Hey, I am definitely not a slacker!"

"Okay, Fred and I may be slackers, and Lee is the epitome of hard work –"

The other twin feigned gagging while George maintained a poker face.

Lee sighed, a tad painfully.

He continued, "But we aren't stupid. The bloody hat wanted to put us in Slytherin during our first year, but we –"

"Kindly declined. Mom might have burst a blood vessel or two -"

"And, sent us an equal number of Howlers, really. Extremely inconvenient."

Neville found it a lot easier to listen, than to talk. He suddenly had the image of the matronly Molly Weasley with a quivering vein on her forehead that made him want to burst into hysterics, but contained it when he saw the graver expression of the twins when they mentioned the Howlers. It may have been said in jest, but Neville couldn't help but to have feelings that there was a little tinge of truth to the statement.

Lee gave Neville a sly wink, and said, "Come on Fred, George, let's cut to the chase here. I am sure Neville here wants to know why we got him here besides the game of Exploding Snap."

The one that Neville was sure was Fred now spoke, "We wanted your opinion –"

"An honest opinion, mind you –"

"Of our fabulously grand plot –"

"To usher in the second-"

"Era of Marauder - dom."

Neville looked baffled. _What are they talking about?_

"Translated, it means that they wish to play the pranks of all pranks and bring light-hearted chaos back to our rather jolly old school. The Marauders were legendary pranksters, in which, mere mentions of them would cause our stern Head of House to blush." Lee explained.

"Why me?" Neville asked.

"Why not you?" George retorted, "We think, you can be discreet. Plus, like I said, four is better than three. From what we heard from the other firsties – you are quite talented –"

Neville blushed, his pale cheeks flushed red, but he nodded.

"So for our first epic plan –"

* * *

_Blaise – N. here. Are we still on for tonight?_

* * *

_Neville – B. here. Hell yeah. Meet you by the old shed at the usual time? By the way, Palindrome's joining us. She's in withdrawal._

* * *

_Blaise – Message received. Yeah, let her get her fix, B. See you guys!_

* * *

At the appointed hour, Neville slipped from the common room. There was still one more hour till curfew, but the trio figured that flying in the dark was worth the risk, anyhow. He made his way down the stairs, which were almost deserted due to the lateness of the hour and ran into a patrolling Prefect or two. He left the castle, and entered the grounds. The broomshed area was pretty much deserted, but Blaise, Hannah and Henry were already there, waving at him.

Neville casted a Silencing charm on his body, so his steps and other actions would not create any unnecessary noise. A quick _Alohomora _opened the locked shed door, courtesy of Blaise and the three stepped into the cobwebby, dark and dingy space that housed the school brooms that they had used for Flying classes. They each selected one that they deemed was safe to fly on and left the shed. Neville climbed on his and pushed off, the familiar sensation of the wind in his robes and hair gave him an exhilarating feeling, so unlike the nauseous sensations that he had gotten the first time he had attempted to fly on a broom.

His three friends weren't far behind him, and although the autumn air was showing its chillier side, all of them casted a self-regulating temperature charm on their robes (A trickier charm than your basic warming charm). It was brilliant for flying conditions.

The stars were out, and the sky was unusually clear. They flew higher and higher, and circled the Hogwarts grounds. Like their usual outings, all four remained quiet, simply content to enjoy the deliciously forbidden fruit of freedom, as usually all the professors, supervisors and Filch were indoors at this late hour. They made a loop around the Quidditch pit.

When they passed by Hagrid's hut, Neville broke the code of silence.

"Is that Draco, over there?"

Henry, Blaise and Hannah squinted below them, making out the large speck that was easily Hagrid, with two other small dots in their field of vision. Cautiously, the foursome inched closer downward and towards the Forbidden Forest, so that they couldn't be seen by Hagrid and whatever students were with him.

As soon as the four reached the trees of the Forbidden Forest, they could make out words from the three. The two specks that had been too small to make out turned out to be Ronald and Draco, who seemed more interested in sulking and glaring at each other rather than paying attention to what the half-giant was saying.

"Let's fly some more, guys. It's just Ronald and Draco having detention." Hannah said rather impatiently to the boys.

Blaise agreed, "Yeah, there's no point in lingering."

"Why don't we go see the Unicorns for ourselves?" Henry asked, "I mean, we are already breaking quite a few rules, and I am pretty sure we can fly away from any danger."

"It's already past curfew, anyhow." Hannah noted, her time-spell shimmered in the air.

Neville added, "Yeah, maybe Filch would actually go to bed if we sneak in later."

"Fat chance of that – since we are predisposed to being screwed anyways, let's make the most out of it." Blaise said, with a rather fatalistic flair.

"I know, we've been living a quiet life since we found out about you-know-what. Hiding in bloody common rooms and safe places." Henry agreed, "I say, upwards and onwards."

Blaise mounted his broom, it was a rather difficult task up in the trees, but he managed to get a good kick-off. The others followed him and they flew tree-level and silently through the Forbidden Forest.

The forest was relatively quiet and deserted at night. The faint hooting of owls could be heard, and the rustling sound of some animal could be heard, but neither could see what was making the sounds. Neville recognized numerous rare fungi and plantae growing in the ground, the great trees themselves, various nooks and crannies and on decaying detritus of things that were once alive. He was fascinated, and couldn't believe that there was such a wealth of flora that was around him. Blaise and Henry were excited that they were living 'on the edge, while Hannah was thrilled that she was on a broomstick, with her best friends.

They passed a clearing, and it was Blaise that saw it first.

A shadowy figure was bending over another shadowy object in the distance.

When the four got close enough to see, Hannah gasped and quickly placed a hand over her mouth to stifle any remaining sound. The Silencing Charm covered their movements, but not their voices.

The purple turbaned Quirrell knelt over a silvery creature that was clearly dying of blood loss. A silvery rather viscous liquid oozed slowly on a large wound on the animal's neck, and Quirrell was desperately sucking and lapping at the shimmering fluid that was slowly dripping all over the forest floor.

At the sound of Hannah's gasp, Quirrell looked up, and the four quickly realized that Quirrell was indeed wearing a Glamour during his time in the castle. The face that seemed to look in their direction was a stark contrast to what they had seen earlier during DADA. His nose was deformed; his cheeks looked molten with red, brown and black coarse skin that was in the process of sloughing off, his appendages were barely skin and bone, the same colouration on his face was present on all of his other exposed skin. Seconds later, as the silvery blood of the unicorn took hold, the damaged skin reknit itself, and other characteristics of the rotting began to diminish slightly.

They saw Quirrell reach for his wand and walk towards their hiding spot in the trees. When Blaise was sure that all hope was lost, a rustle in the other direction caught the attention of everyone in the scene, paralyzing them all in place including the possessed man. The noise grew louder, and a creature, half man and half horse emerged from the clearing. Upon seeing the Centaur, Quirrell made a run for it in their direction, twigs snapping and leaves crunching in his wake while the Centaur notched an arrow to his bow and ran after the foul murderer of the Unicorns.

"Fuck! Fly! Now!" Blaise yelled, jerked from his paralysis, realizing that the drama was running towards them. The four bolted in a blur as fast as the old creaky school brooms could go, and the fearful and frantic Quirrell had been deprived of the moment by the centaur to discern the identities of those who had disturbed his intimate drink.

* * *

"How could you guys have been so stupid?" Hermione hissed at Neville, Blaise, Henry and Hannah at Breakfast at the Gryffindor Table, under the confines of the _Muffiato_ after the four had told the tale of yesterday. Henry looked unrepentant, Neville cringed, Blaise looked weary and Hannah suddenly felt horrible. Blaise gave Hannah a reassuring nudge.

Hermione continued, in the equal furious tone that she had started with, "What if the Centaur didn't show up? What if you were caught by Hagrid or somebody else? What if Voldemort made you guys vanish? How could you guys be so selfish?"

"We're sorry." Neville finally said after Hermione seemed to run out of air from her tirade.

"Mother, we promise we won't do it again," Henry said with the tone of a bad boy who would totally do it again and would enjoy every microsecond of it.

Hermione redirected her ire towards the Slytherin, "And you! Henry! Words cannot describe what I feel -"

"But we've gone flying loads of times," Hannah said, "And this is the first time-"

"We ran into trouble." Blaise finished, "It probably all would have been fine if we didn't go into the bloody Forbidden Forest..."

"But at least it does confirm that Quirrell is indeed possessed. I am going to have nightmares for weeks," Hannah moaned, "Rotting skin; I swore I could see bone sticking out at some parts, too!"

"And the Unicorns are indeed being slaughtered. It was horrible." Neville shook his head.

"Guys shut up and listen to what Weasley is speaking about over there." Henry, who had tuned out of the rest of the conversation, interrupted. He was very eager to change the topic.

"Seriously guys, this is not over!" Hermione shook her head at their antics.

Ronald Weasley was talking animatedly to Dean and Seamus – the so called Gryffindor Three, about the events that had happened during detention yesterday.

"So we went into the Forbidden Forest, with Malfoy," He said that with disgust, "and Hagrid. Blimey it was dark, and cold. Apparently some bloke's been killing Unicorns and drinking their blood according to Hagrid. Malfoy found the dead Unicorn first, there was a pool of blood that it was lying in, and Hagrid said that someone had fled in a hurry, judging by the broken twigs and other damage that he saw."

"Did you find the person who did it?" Dean was listening, with a rather awed expression.

Ronald reluctantly shook his head, "No, but there were hoof prints all over, and Hagrid thinks that one of the Centaurs chased him off. Shame that I missed it – would have been cool to have caught the bloke."

"Yeah, definitely," Seamus agreed.

"Tell it again!" Kaitlyn exclaimed, "It's so exciting!"

Ronald was delighted to have an audience and his next rendition became more and more exaggerated that the group was forced to shake their heads and return to their own conversation before heading off to class.

* * *

Forest and Tonks walked through the sparsely populated streets of Hogsmeade. The sun had fallen half an hour ago and the pair made their way to the Hog's Head under the darkened skies. Forest had changed a few aspects of his facial features, and turned his hair colour to a shade neutral brown. Tonks had morphed her features so that her hair was platinum blonde, her pupils were almost purple and her skin tone was a much darker and more exotic shade than her natural colouring. Even though they weren't being hounded by Dumbledore's Order, they figured it was a better idea to be unrecognizable.

"So, Nymphie –" Forest started saying.

Tonks whacked him on the backside of his head none too gently in horror of the new nickname, "Don't you ever, ever, ever, call me that again. Or I will..."

"You'll what? Hex me nine different ways into next week? Charm my hair a brilliant bright pink that won't come off till next year?" Forest joked; his eyes were shining in mischief while his left hand came up to massage his abused head.

Tonks huffed, "You're bloody impossible, I hope you know that."

"That's what my dear old mom used to say –" Forest drawled, rather drolly.

"Well, your mother isn't too far off the mark." Tonks muttered darkly, "Sometimes I can't believe that you are almost forty. You behave like a four year old!"

"Hey, so you are saying that my maturity level is even lower than my son's?" Forest exclaimed. He loved getting a rise out of Tonks – it had been the greatest source of entertainment, since, well, ever.

Tonks sighed, "By the way you are going you and your son should switch places."

Forest playfully stuck out his tongue. "Young at heart, dear, young at heart."

Tonks pushed her way through the dusty old door that served as the entrance to the Hog's Head. The inside of the dimly lit tavern smelled strongly and distinctively of a mix of goat, cheese and alcohol. Seedy individuals littered the wooden tables and chairs, and Tonks and Forest made their way to a table.

Harry, dressed in a hooded cloak of a shade of forest green, was already sipping away at a glass of apple cider. The cloak complemented his green eyes, and he wore the hood over his head.

"Where have you guys been, it's six bloody thirty now!" Harry whispered quietly.

Tonks shuddered, "Don't ask. It involved yours truly and klutz-like behavior."

Forest groaned, "I swear that shopkeeper was half troll. So unreasonable!"

"I'd say. Merlin, is that Hagrid over there? Don't all look at once," Tonks whispered back.

Harry used his magic to see the hair half-giant mulling over a bottle of the finest mead that the Hog's Head had to offer.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Forest asked, conversationally after he had taken his peek, "I want some Firewhiskey."

"Nothing stronger than a Butterbeer," Tonks warned, "Got training at dawn tomorrow. Sometimes, Mad-Eye is totally off his rocker – bloody practice at the crack of dawn on a Monday – no less!"

"Pity," Forest said, dryly, before standing up and walking up to the bartender – Aberforth.

"Anything interesting yet?" Tonks asked, only to see Harry shake his head. "I know, stakeout's remarkably boring most of the time."

"Our furry friend must be even more bored sitting at home," Harry replied rather cryptically.

Tonks sighed, "Poor Romulus. Someone had to look after Forest's spawn."

Harry nodded, "And we are so close to Hogwarts-"

"Your butterbeer, madam," Forest gallantly presented a bottle to the blonde witch, who sipped her drink immediately. Forest decanted his Firewhiskey into a glass and said cheerily, "Bottoms up!"

"Remember, the object of tonight is not to get smashed," Tonks reprimanded.

"I won-"

Forest paused when the front door swung open. A thin, gaunt man wearing a black cloak and a hood that covered most of his forehead entered the door. Harry sensed that the man was drenched in magic, suggesting numerous enchantments and a Glamour. There was a dark viscous fluid that seemed to be anchored to the man's cells. Harry shuddered.

It was revolting.

The man seemed to glance around the clientele of the Hog's Head before making his way towards the bartender. He threw several coins down on the bar, and called for Aberforth's best Firewhiskey in a rather twitchy and raspy voice. The barman took the coins and handed him several bottles of Ogden's finest. The shrouded man took the bottles under his arm, and slowly made his way towards Hagrid. He sat down and plonked the drinks on the table.

"You don't think-" Forest began to say.

Harry used his magic to delve through the man's Glamour, without physically removing the magic, and he felt a wave of nausea hit him. He could sense the decay, rot and the necrosis of the cells that made up the stranger. A strange silvery liquid also seemed to flow slowly in the man's veins and arteries, and Harry had the bad feeling that it was Unicorn blood. No other substance seemed to have the same physical properties.

Harry nodded gravely, "It's who we were looking for, alright. Nasty stuff; trust me, you do not want to see that glamour off anytime soon."

"He doesn't smell!" Tonks whispered, rather surprised.

"No, he does!" Forest replied back, "It's just that this place smells so strong, it's almost difficult to pick out that particular odour."

"Shouldn't we be paying attention?" Harry whispered back.

Forest and Tonks resumed to casually observing the happenings between Hagrid and Quirrell, who was wasting no time in plying drink after drink on Hagrid.

The three fell silent, with the occasionally sips from their beverages. Forest got up to order some food, while Harry was observing the stranger who was busy charming the half-giant with stories of interesting creatures that he had met in his travels. Tonks spent a lot of time looking at her bottle of butterbeer, and taking the occasional glance at Forest who was currently placing an order with the maid who was in charge of the solid consumables.

Harry had quirked an eyebrow at Tonks after the latter observation.

Harry found himself probing at Quirrell's contaminated body, noting how different the darkness was between Remus' and the possessed DADA professor. Remus' lycanthropy took in the form of nasty tangles and knots in his bloodstream, but Quirrell's seemed to be some dark oozing substance that seemed to be everywhere in his body. And then, Harry saw something familiar, a dark tendril was lodged somewhere in Quirrell's head and it had spread throughout his body in slender strands rather like the roots of a plant or the mycelium of a fungus, and seemingly anchored to most of his cells. The soul seemed to be feeding off Quirrell's life force, unlike the dark tendril that had once resided dormant in his own core.

He wondered if the destroyed dark tendril that once inhabited his own body was a piece of soul. He shrugged. It would be almost impossible to remove the parasite from Quirrell because his body was so ensnared by the hyphae like strands of the possessing soul. Even Remus' dark tangles would be a lot easier to remove. Maybe he could look into that avenue later and discover a cure that didn't require the use of potions that took days to brew.

Forest came back with sweet potato fries, a platter of BBQ chicken wings and battered haddock. Tonks snorted at the food selection and noted dryly, "No greens?"

"Only when Hadrian's around," Forest smiled, "Sweet potatoes are vegetables!"

"Forest! Not when they are fried like this!" Harry teased.

Harry helped himself to a chicken wing, while continuing to use magic to eavesdrop on Hagrid and Quirrell's conversation. His eyes widened when he heard,

"You know, I am curious about hellhounds, and the Cerberus of hell has always intrigued me. I've always wanted to see one –"

Hagrid, who was clearly hammered, replied, "I happen ter actually own one. Name's Fluffy."

Harry snickered into his palm upon hearing Hagrid's pet name for his Cerberus.

"Must've been really difficult to raise him, eh?" Quirrell said. There was a grin on his face that any sane person would classify as terrifying.

"No, no. Fluffy's a piece o'cake. If yeh want to calm him down, play him a bit o'music. Puts him ter sleep almost instantly." Hagrid spilled.

"Ah, I have something that you might be interested in." Quirrell immediately shifted the topic, "What do you think about dragons?"

"I'd always wanted a dragon." Hagrid had a glazed look in his eyes. Harry wasn't sure if it was actually the alcohol that was doing it, or that Hagrid was revealing one his fantasies.

Quirrell took a glance around the pub before pulling out a round stone like object. It was brownish black. Harry probed his magic into the egg and sensed a yolky substance and the fetus of a forming dragon. The dragon seemed immersed in energy.

Forest gave a discreet look at the egg and his eyes widened after Harry had given him a nudge on the foot under the table.

"Where did he get that?" Forest looked incredulously, "Dragon eggs are notoriously hard to come by these days. Each has to be licensed, tagged and tracked."

Both Harry and Tonks shrugged.

"Could possibly be a dud." Forest mused.

Harry shook his head, "It's the real deal."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Quirrell asked Hagrid, "I want the egg to go to a good home, you know."

"Ah. Trust me. After Fluffy, dragon's a piece'o cake!" Hagrid grinned widely and drunkenly, "Yeh've got yer man!"

* * *

When Hagrid left the pub that evening, in a rather drunken manner, Tonks, who had morphed her hair black in a close-cropped style and transformed her facial expression so that she looked more masculine and menacing, accosted him. She had transfigured her robes into official Auror wear which included elegant black robes, with the stripes denoting rank. The small commercial street was deserted, and only the glow of a solitary magic flame from a streetlamp illuminated the area softly.

"Auror Jones, here." She said in a no-nonsense way to the half-giant, "My sources tell me that you have a dragon egg in your possession."

Hagrid looked terrified, despite his lack of sobriety. His past run-ins with the law had not been too present, including his expulsion from Hogwarts. His alcohol-saturated mind took a quick path down memory lane to revisit the awful days after that life-shattering event.

"Yeh," The half-giant looked half-heartedly down at the Auror. His joy of owning a dragon was being cut short.

"Under Wizarding Law, regarding the Control and Trafficking of dangerous animals, it is illegal for an uncertified civilian to have a dragon egg under his or her possession. I advise you to hand it over."

"I – I'm not going to Azkaban, am I?" Hagrid's expression was turning ashen, really slowly.

Tonks shook her head, "I will let you go this time, but the egg?"

Hagrid reluctantly reached into one of his many pockets in his dirty brown old coat and pulled out the shiny round object and handed it reluctantly to Tonks, who immediately conjured a black sack and gingerly placed the egg in.

"Stay out of trouble now," Tonks reprimanded Hagrid, who stumbled back towards Hogwarts, half-relieved, yet half-disappointed.

Tonks grinned, she had just impersonated a fellow Auror, and since Hagrid was handling illegal contraband that would have landed him in Azkaban for many years, she was sure that she could have pulled that stunt off. She highly doubted that in Hagrid's intoxicated state that he would remember her assumed identity, at all. Also, with Hogwarts teeming with possessed Professors and three headed beasts, it certainly didn't need a dragon to complicate matters even further.

* * *

_Neville, Blaise, Hannah and Hermione – G. here – a quick note of warning: Q. knows how to get past Fluffy, the Cerberus who guards the stone. We overheard Hagrid and Q.'s conversation earlier this evening at the Hog's Head. F., L., T., I. and I are currently working out a plan to retrieve the stone before Quirrell gets there. We figured that there are going to be a lot of wards including an annoying Alert Ward where the stone is, so F. is looking into Ward Disrupters, a special device recently developed by a few American top-secret laboratories recently. He has a friend or two in the business, so we hope that this avenue may bear fruit. _

_We also need a diversion for old D. on the day of retrieval as well as a secret entry way via Hogwarts unknown to anyone else. L. has a hunch that the Room could be an entryway – could you please investigate this? Like ask for a secret passageway out of the school or something. _

_We don't have a solution for your jolly old smelly Q. yet, so we will let him be, for now._

_G._

_PS. I hope you guys learned something about being careful after your last adventure, a much more consequential outcome may have had been the results, and all our work for naught. But nevertheless, remember to enjoy yourselves!_

* * *

"Bloody hell, Forest, what are we going to do with this egg? We can't keep it!" Tonks exclaimed in Harry's living room. She was pacing to and fro in front of the fireplace after she had returned from a rather intensive day of Tracking training.

Forest had incubated the brown egg in the flames for the past couple of days. Harry, who had checked on the egg at regular intervals, had warned them this morning that the dragon was beginning to stir within the confines of its shell.

"Remus, any ideas?" Tonks asked despairingly to the other man, whose face was buried in a newly published curses book.

Remus shrugged, while Forest said in a deliberately whiny voice, "But why can't we keep it?"

Tonks paused and looked at him strangely, "For one, it's illegal, number two, it's going to eat us out of our house and home, three, it breathes fire, and it's a bloody dragon! It's dangerous! It's not a puppy-dog! And not to mention, what about your son?"

_Crack!_

All three, including Zaliss, who had been snoozing next to the fire till Tonks had started the discussion regarding the egg's future focused their attention to the egg. An enormous fracture had appeared that seemed to bisect the egg in half. The fracture lines began to spread out, and pieces of shell began to fly out of the fireplace.

Everyone present was riveted to their spots.

Finally, a large chunk of eggshell fell off, and a brown, leathery, lizard-like face with deep brown eyes looked towards its audience. Its yolk saturated wings hung limply on its torso.

It let out a sharp cry.

"Bloody hell," Remus finally spoke.

Tonks groaned, "We should have dealt with this earlier!"

Zaliss looked at the hatchling with an air of interest.

Only Forest had a look of maniacal glee on his face.

"What do we do now?" Tonks muttered darkly to herself.

* * *

**A/N:** Review?


	18. XVIII - The Heist

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Your Sunday fix!

Definitely don't own HP, unfortunately.

* * *

**Chapter XVIII **– The Heist

Albus Dumbledore paced in his office, a combination of fury and bewilderment graced the old wizard's features. His Order minions were nowhere close to elucidating the whereabouts nor were they any closer to retrieving any information on the Boy-Who-Lived. It was extremely hard to make his next moves when he, himself, was in the dark.

Even the most useful tool, gossip, had proven futile.

Not to mention that the Goblins at Gringotts had refused to crack a single word about their 'illustrious' client's whereabouts nor had they bothered to divulge the identity of Harry's mysterious new guardian.

_They don't know what's at stake._

Molly Weasley had been harping on him regarding his promises involving Harry incessantly during the Order Meetings, which were held at the Burrow on a weekly basis. Her own desires to see the glorification of the Weasley clan were starting to grate at the last of Dumbledore's nerves. To compound difficulties further, Minerva had been giving him the cold shoulder ever since Harry hadn't shown up to Hogwarts.

It was really starting to irk him.

The elderly wizard sighed. He had been so sure that putting Harry with the Dursleys had been the best option that he had wasted no time into listening to the advice of his peers.

Maybe it was time to make a new plan.

A small orb held by one of his silvery instruments on the spindle-legged table closest to Fawkes perch began to glow.

_Or maybe not yet._

Dumbledore's angry expression immediately dissipated. He tapped one of the teacups on his desk with a quick _Portus_. He picked up the cup and with the familiar jerking sensation in his navel, he Portkeyed away.

* * *

"So, are we ready for the old man?" Forest asked Ivan, who had just finished putting on the last set of incantations on Remus' house.

The two men were standing behind the house, with self-regulated warming charms on their cloaks, as the frigid late-October air assailed them. Leaves that had fallen from the deciduous trees nearby along with the occasional piece of litter swirled in the air. Both men had been amused by the fact that Dumbledore had neglected to ward off the backyard of the house.

"Yes, indeed," Ivan smiled, rather darkly; his long black hair was tied back in a simple braid. "Now hand me the flask. It's almost time."

Forest passed on an unbreakable glass Florence flask with an ornate stopper to the man from one of his robes' pockets. Ivan inverted it several times, the crimson liquid sloshing slowly with the movements. Suddenly, he popped it open and spilled the blood on the ground.

The man gave a simple flick with his wand, and an exact replica of Remus J. Lupin spawned from the spilt blood. He handed his creation a specially created wand that would vanish when Remus' imitation expired.

"Impressive Doppelgänger Charm," Forest mused, admiring how life-like the construct was, "How long does yours last?"

"Hopefully," Ivan looked grim, "Enough."

Ivan directed the Remus-look-alike towards the werewolf's house and had the mock-Remus pull out his wand and opened the door, triggering Dumbledore's Alert ward.

* * *

"Harry!" Hannah and Hermione exclaimed rather quietly in the Hog's Head when Harry had entered the seedy bar and approached them, in simple Muggle wear, and a long hooded black cloak. His sword, _Despair _was slung across his back, its ornate dragon-decorated handle and pommel stone gleamed in the dim lighting. The girls had worn their cloaks and had their hoods draped over them, so that their identities were obscured from the patrons and employees of the bar.

Both girls ran over to hug their friend, who they hadn't seen in almost two months.

"We don't have much time," Harry whispered, "The diversion only gives us three hours, max."

Hermione started sneaking towards the back of the bar, after taking a quick glance of her surroundings and to ensure that Aberforth was looking the other way, "Follow us!"

The girls took Harry to the back of the bar where a small discreet entranceway was blocked by a wooden crate. The three pushed it aside, and they entered the passage. Harry summoned his wand and temporarily blocked off the opening before they ran. A few minutes later, the three burst into the Room where Blaise, Henry, Daphne, Neville, Terry, Stephen and Anthony had been waiting. Heidi, the silver wolf, let out a cheerful cry when she saw her master, and greeted him appropriately. She nuzzled her head against Harry's trousers.

Quick greetings and introductions were exchanged before Harry surveyed the group.

"We can't all go." Harry said, after thinking for a moment, "But there are things that need to be done. Daphne, Henry, Neville, Heidi and Hermione, I will take you along for the adventure."

The others looked crestfallen.

Harry continued, "Terry, and Blaise." He tossed them a pair of Galleons.

The boys looked bewildered at the money after catching the coins.

"Stake out the entrance to Dumbledore's office. If you see him at all, tap the coins with your wands thrice, and we will know we don't have much time left."

The pair of boys brightened, with Blaise throwing a salute, "Got it!"

"Stephen, Anthony and Hannah, you three stay in the room and make sure no one comes through from either end. Keep the room in this configuration till we return."

The three nodded, a little put out by the lack of adventure in their task.

Harry admonished at the sulking three, "You have an important task. We need to be in and out of this place and if the Room is occupied by someone else, I won't be able to leave before the old coot comes back."

Hannah nodded, "Alright, Harry."

"Got your violin?" Harry asked Daphne.

The Slytherin petted the violin case slung over her shoulder, "Of course!"

Everyone vacated the Room except for the three who were on guard duty.

* * *

Dumbledore felt his feet hit solid ground as he found himself in Remus' front yard. The shabby shack of a house looked the same as it did the last time he had visited. He walked cautiously to the house, his wand discreetly out; he was in a Muggle neighbourhood after all. He casted some ward-detection spells, but only to find that his wards weren't tampered with at all. But, he knew there must have had been a disturbance because his Alert ward orb had lit up.

He removed the wards from the door of Remus' house and stepped in. A thin layer of dust coated everything, giving every indication that Remus had not returned. Nevertheless, he pushed forward. The chair that had been knocked down in haste was still in the same position, and the stale tea was still there, with some long-dead insects that seemed to be floating in the pale liquid.

Not deterred, Dumbledore walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs. On the first creak of the rickety old steps, the elderly wizard huffed with annoyance and cast a Silencing Charm on his feet and the stairs themselves. He walked into Remus' office, which was filled with dusty books and backed out when he found it devoid of life. His spectacled eyes finally caught a glimpse of his elusive werewolf slumped beside a window in his bedroom.

As Dumbledore approached the mock-Remus, the brown-haired man immediately stood up, opened his bedroom window with a flick of his wand, and kicked off with a broomstick that had been hidden beneath his slumped torso, and his bed.

* * *

The real Remus levitated a bucketful of brandy and chicken blood from Harry's kitchen, across the living room, and with Tonks' help, he opened the heavily warded door that lead to the newest charmed room in Harry's flat.

Forest and Harry had been really proud of their handiwork and the simple wooden door led to an interior that resembled a rocky plateau with large jutting rocks piled in a corner of the room to form a nest-like structure. The walls of the room were charmed to give a sense that the rocky area stretched out indefinitely, with gently swaying trees in the background.

Remus himself had charmed the sky, which was a rich sky-blue with realistic clouds drifting across the ceiling and upper parts of the walls. Occasionally one could even see birds fly across the sky.

Carefully making his way across the treacherous terrain, Remus slowly made his way to the nest in the corner. The nameless baby she-dragon, who had grown quite a bit over the past few days, was lashing out at her surroundings and growling viciously at the rocks which surrounded it. The dragon hadn't discovered how to breathe fire yet but they had fire-proofed, and hopefully dragon-proofed the room.

Upon seeing the werewolf approach, the dragon made a hissing sound, and clawed her way towards Remus. her spiny leathery wings still draped on the ground, seeing that she hadn't learned to take flight, and the spikes and barbs on her tail whipped menacingly back and forth.

She bared her teeth.

Remus lowered the bucket in front of the hostile beast and watched as the dragon noisily supped at her meal. It was a miracle that she didn't tip the bucket over.

There was a click from the door and Tonks and Zaliss emerged from the door.

"Vicious little bugger, isn't it?" Tonks mused, while watching the carnage of the dragon rolling around with a now empty bucket, licking frantically at the sides.

Remus shrugged, "Not exactly endearing, isn't it?"

"Hadrian finally agreed to take a nap." Tonks sighed, "That boy has been trying to sneak into the 'Dragon' room for the past few days."

"That's definitely Forest's boy. His daddy is a little dragon-crazy right now." Remus admitted, "Did you see all the books on dragon's lore that he had on the living room table the other day?"

Zaliss slithered past the adults towards the dragon. A few choice hisses and the dragon flopped on the ground in a rather subdued fashion.

It turned out that Parseltongue and Dragon-tongue weren't too far apart from one another. Tonks made a note to tell Harry when he got back from his task.

* * *

Sneaking to the usually deserted third floor corridor proved to be a relatively simple task. Being a Saturday, most of the Professors were in their own quarters, and even Filch wasn't around. Harry disillusioned himself using the invisibility barriers that he had developed over the past month, while Henry, Daphne, Neville and Hermione walked as normally as they could as Heidi loped easily beside them.

The Forbidden Corridor was deserted like it usually was, and Henry was the one who unlocked the door with an _Alohomora_ for good times sake. The first memory of Fluffy was still engraved deeply within his memory.

Harry went in first after removing his invisibility barriers, and Daphne pulled out her violin and followed suit. Heidi followed her Master, her furry tail waving eagerly in anticipation of a new adventure. Neville, Henry and Hermione, after sharing a hesitating look with one another, joined them. Hermione shut the door and had the presence of mind to relock it with a _Colloportus_.

The giant three headed dog snarled at them, its dark eyes flashing. It took several menacing and rather loud steps towards them, leaving the wooden trapdoor that it had been sitting on initially. Henry trembled fearfully and Hermione hid behind Harry, who stood calmly, gazing interestedly at the hellhound, while Neville's jaw hung open in shock. Strings of saliva hung from the great teeth of all three heads. But Daphne simply placed the violin under her chin in a fluid motion, and the strains of a Mozartian lullaby sang sweetly from the strings as she bowed.

All five watched in awe as the dog slowly lowered itself and its great fearsome eyes began to droop. Harry began to walk towards the great beast, with Henry and Hermione clutching at his cloak, while Daphne played on. Neville followed them, his steps cautious. Henry finally let go of his death grip on Harry's fabric when the last great head of Fluffy slumped on the ground, asleep. Drool dripped on the ground, as the great dog started its music induced slumber. Henry was about to dash nimbly to the trapdoor but Harry held out a hand, gesturing that he should stop.

Harry made his way over to the trapdoor and shut his eyes. He probed the door with his magic and deduced that there were no wards placed upon it. With delicate care, he gripped the latch and opened it. Henry, Hermione, Neville and himself peered through the dark abyss beyond it, while Daphne continued with her tune. Heidi leapt towards them, and she looked down as well, her keen nose sniffing the cool and damp air within.

"Woah," Henry whispered in awe, "How deep does it go?"

"Forever, and ever – it's so dark!" Neville added.

_:. There's a bottom, Master. .: _

Harry set his energy down in the darkness. It took a while for the magic to plumb itself down to the very bottom but it eventually returned, giving Harry a picture of a soft material that was green in colouration. The soft material was in the form of tendrils and threads that made Harry deduce that it was a plant of some sort.

"It's not bottomless," Harry replied back, "Seems to be some cushiony plant down there. I will go first."

"That's some awesome magic!" Henry exclaimed in awe, "To see without actually seeing."

Harry slowly lowered himself down, his fingers gripping onto the edges of the opening. After taking a deep breath, he let go. As the darkness swallowed him up, he summoned his silver flames to illuminate his surroundings. A few seconds later, he collided with the soft plant material. He noticed that the plant's vines were sneaking towards him, so instinctively he swung fire at the masses, causing the plant's 'appendages' to retreat.

"All clear!" Harry shouted in the darkness, only lit by his bright silver flames.

He was soon joined by Henry who had jumped straight down from the hole, then Hermione. Neville was still up there, his nerves were clearly shot.

"Come on Neville! It won't kill you!" Henry hollered from his spot on the ground. He conjured his own blue flames with his own wand to scare away the creeping tendrils that were starting to encircle his legs and arms.

Hermione, who had been observing the plant curiously, "It's Devil's Snare!" She exclaimed in excitement, her own flames keeping the vines at bay.

"Bloody hell! Devil's snare! Seriously?" Neville's voice could be heard from above. "Coming!"

"Knew it would take some rare plantae to make old Nev jump," Henry replied, his good-humor was returning.

The Gryffindor landed with a plop on a mass of Devil's Snare. Instantly, Neville cast his own fire to prevent himself from being strangled to death by the ever treacherous vines. Heidi followed him, her own soft fur dropped into Neville's lap. She looked apologetically at Neville before scurrying off to stand beside Harry, who had vacated the vines and was busy probing the area with magic of his own.

After Neville called out "all clear", Daphne stopped playing. Noticing that the dog was starting to wake, she tucked her instrument under one arm, deftly grabbed the lid of the trapdoor with her other hand, and jumped, slamming the door on the way down.

"Careful there!" Neville exclaimed when the tendrils reached out to welcome Daphne. He directed his own fire to shoo the vines away.

"Thanks, Neville," Daphne smiled rather humorously, "So, music-loving dogs, and Devil's Snare. What's next?"

Harry led the way, as the six moved through the darkened chamber. As they walked further away from the vicious plant, torches began to show up on the walls. A faint fluttering sound was heard. Harry stopped to probe the area with magic again. Satisfied that there wasn't any wards lingering around, he pressed on, a silver flame burning brightly in his hand like a torch despite the lighting provided.

"Bloody hell!" Henry exclaimed, when brightly coloured winged objects fluttered crazily in a large, spacious area.

The wings flapped frantically, and at first, Hermione thought the objects were hummingbirds, before calling out when one zoomed close to her cheek, "They are keys!"

"They don't seem to be dangerous," Daphne said after her own practical observation.

"_Alohomora!"_ Neville pointed his wand to the massive door that stood at the end.

The door did not budge.

"Merlin, it's a magic-proof door!" Henry exclaimed, "I read about them in this book on wards that Blaise and I have been reading. You need a key!"

"Keys, eh?" Daphne looked around at the crazy flurry of winged keys, "You don't reckon it's one of those, don't you?"

"We don't have time to try all of them!" Hermione exclaimed, "Merlin!"

Harry had used his magic to probe the hole in the doorknob and fabricated himself a key, seemingly out of midair. He had no time to waste catching flying keys and testing them out one by one. He took the key and stuffed it into the lock.

It opened with a single click.

"You know, Harry, you are a useful guy to have around." Henry said conversationally.

Neville rolled his eyes.

Daphne and Hermione giggled, while Harry muttered, "Glad to be of service."

The five continued through the doorway with Heidi trotting with Harry, after he had made another check for wards.

There were none. What they did find, was a marble tiled floor in the next chamber, in two shades – black and white.

"Wow. This is like my dream chess set!" Henry exclaimed in glee.

Neville surveyed the scene; ornately carved chess pieces made up of marble stood on either side of the board. Like all wizarding chess sets, the figurines were animated.

"So what do we do here?" Daphne asked.

Neville asked the nearest chess piece, a knight in full battle garb with a black horse, when a flash of inspiration hit him, "We have to play to get across?"

The knight nodded.

"Do you want to direct?" Henry respectfully asked Harry.

Harry answered back, "I haven't played much chess, un-"

"Old Winters will get us through!" Henry interrupted, "Okay, so –"

The enthused Henry got Harry to switch places with a rook, Hermione to be a bishop, and Neville to be a knight. Daphne switched with the queen. He, himself, took over the position of the other black knight.

A pawn from the other side moved two spaces forward. "White always goes first, guys!" Henry explained.

The game was furious and speedy as Henry preferred the art of blitz chess. Neville found himself shaking when one of their pawns got smashed by a white rook. Hermione kept a brave front, not willing to think about the consequences if they lost.

Heidi, who was sitting at one edge of the board, looked on, a half-worried and half-interested expression on her face. She whined when one of their bishops, fortunately not Hermione, was taken.

"Fucking Merlin," Hermione cried out when she realized what the last few moves entailed, "Henry! Are you mad?"

"It has to be!" Henry called out, "It's the only way!"

"No!" Daphne, who wore the black queen's tiara, cried out despairingly, "Henry!"

Everyone else echoed the same sentiments, including Harry.

"Do you want to get the Stone or not!" Henry shouted back, urgently, "It's all about sacrifices, Daphne! This is mine! Hermione, you move over there, I move a few steps that-a-way, and get smashed by the Queen and Harry can go in for the kill!"

"Henry!" Hermione called out pleadingly. Daphne shot a similar look, while Neville looked horrified.

The next moves played out just like Henry said. Hermione moved to the strategic position mentioned by Henry earlier, placing her in sight of the King. Henry made his move, and as if watching in slow-motion, the opposing Queen did deck him, knocking him out. She dragged his limp form to the side of the board where all the smashed victims resided.

"Henry!" Daphne and Hermione moaned while Heidi sprinted towards the unconscious Henry.

"He's a Gryffindor at heart." Neville said solemnly.

Hermione cried out to Harry, "Take the King! Take the King! Or his sacrifice will be in vain!"

Harry took a deep breath; the incident had shaken him more than he had expected it to. He walked the remaining steps to the opposing King, who bowed and tossed his crown to Harry, declaring him the victor.

Victory tasted ashen in the mouths of the victors though. Harry ran towards the fallen Henry, with Daphne, Hermione and Neville close by. Using his magic, he carefully probed the boy's injured body, and located the offended tissues in his head. Remember the basic Healing training that Ivan had taught him, he summoned his energy and with care, did his best to repair the damage.

Henry blinked.

"You guys go on ahead!" Daphne exclaimed, "I will stay and look after him!"

She knelt down next to Henry's feebly stirring body.

"Alright then," Harry nodded.

"Good luck and we will be here when you guys come back!" Daphne called out.

As the four made their way through the next door, after Harry checked for wards, the pieces on the chessboard began to reset to the original configuration.

Stairs greeted the adventurers, and the four quickly jogged up the steps. Five minutes later, and much panting, the lot reached the next door. Neville opened the door this time, after Harry gave him the okay, and the group stepped in.

Only to be greeted by the thunderous roars of –

"Merlin, fucking Merlin! A troll. A bloody troll!" Neville exclaimed, his voice reaching hysteric squeaking frequencies.

"What do we do?" Hermione looked at Harry, who had a determined expression on his face.

This particular specimen of beauty was twelve feet tall; with an intimidating spiked club that was at least a third of its height. It looked dumbly at its visitors before charging. Heidi growled, bearing her fangs, even though she knew her small size would not work to her advantage.

"Get out of the way!" Harry called out, and Hermione understood why.

Harry had brought out his wand this time, and used magic to conjure a tripwire. The wire glowed silver, but the troll kept going, and with a thud that could have been mistaken for an earth tremor, fell down like a bowled over nine-pin, its club stretched out in front of him.

"_Wingardium Leviosa!" _Hermione pointed her own wand at the troll's club.

It was heavy, and Neville added his own contribution. With both of them combined, they lifted the club a good three metres in the air and slammed it down on the stirring troll, effectively knocking it out.

"Good job, guys!" Harry called out, "Next chamber!"

Neville and Hermione shared a high-five and whooped before following Harry and Heidi to the next chamber. Compared to the fearsome creature in the prior, this room looked remarkably innocent, with a long table and potions lined up neatly.

As soon as they reached the table, a whoosh of purple flame shot up between them and the door they had arrived from, and an equal set of black flames covered the entrance to the next chamber.

"What do we have to do?" Neville wondered, as the flames flickered.

Hermione was holding a parchment, inscribed in Snape's familiar handwriting:

_Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind, _

_Two of us will help you, whichever you would find, _

_One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

_Another will transport the drinker back instead, _

_Two among our number hold only nettle wine, _

_Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line._

_Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore, _

_You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;_

_Second, different are those who stand at either end,_

_But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;_

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size;_

_Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

_Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

_Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

"A riddle!" Neville exclaimed, "Two nettle wines, three poisons, one to go back, and one to go forward!"

"So –" Hermione was thinking, and muttering to herself as she and Neville looked at the offerings, not noticing what Harry was doing.

Harry was of course, neglecting the potions on the table and examining the jet black flames that blocked their path. After experimentally poking his magic at the flames and yelled at the same instance as Hermione.

"I've got it!"

Hermione and Harry looked oddly at each other.

"I figured out which one will bring us through!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, her hand pointing at the smallest bottle, "But it's only enough for one!"

Harry shook his head, "I've got a better idea – watch!"

With devious grin, Harry walked into the black flames themselves, while Neville almost fainted, and Hermione let out a loud gasp of surprise. Harry spread out his arm and the black flames obediently parted, rather like how Moses parted the Red Sea. A narrow channel served as a bridge to the other side.

"Bloody brilliant!" Neville almost yelled, "We can all go!"

And all go they went, Heidi taking up the rear. When they reached the next door, Harry's magic picked up a set of very extensive wards, including the hypothesized Alert Ward.

Harry stopped.

"Merlin! Why did we stop?" Neville nudged his friend.

Harry stuck his fingers in his robes and removed an inconspicuous black box from his pocket. He set the device one centimetre away from the beginning of the Alert Ward and pressed a lone tiny button on the top of the box. True to Forest's word, the device disrupted the wards that protected the next chamber, and the four went in.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

Harry answered back, "Ward-disrupter. Forest got a few from his American friend. Lasts thirty minutes, and it will vanish itself, as if it's never been there."

"Let's hurry, then." Neville whispered back.

The four walked through the last doorway to the final chamber. Much to their shock, only a mirror stood at the center of the room.

"The Mirror of Erised," Harry whispered.

"What does that have to do with the stone, Harry?" Neville asked, looking at the words engraved on the mirror.

"Hang on a second." Harry waved his hand and the word Erised floated in front of the mirror. The word desirE was seen back.

Harry looked at his reflection in the mirror. His reflection smiled back, and he saw himself lifting the blood-red stone in the mirror and putting it in his pocket. The real Harry immediately reached for his own pocket, and pulled out the stone.

"Wow." Hermione said in awe, gazing at the ultimate item of Alchemy.

_:. We've done it! .: _

Neville looked at the stone as well, admiring the stone's beauty before saying, "Let's go. Daph and Henry are waiting for us back in the chess chamber."

* * *

As soon as mock-Remus had escaped from the bedroom, an incensed Dumbledore cast an _Accio_ at Remus as well as the broom. When that failed, he tried several other summoning charms, but to no avail. Cursing himself that Remus would be the type of wizard to apply an Anti-Summoning charm to his broom, Albus transformed into his Animagus form.

It didn't occur to him that he could have summoned a broom or attach a tracking spell to the disappearing figure as Dumbledore was seeing red.

He immediately flew after Remus, as fast as his little wings could carry him.

Beneath in Remus' overgrown bushes in his backyard, Forest and Ivan almost giggled like schoolgirls under their disillusioning charms.

"Seriously, his animagus form is a crow?"

"I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a Phoenix..."

* * *

When Harry, Hermione, Neville and Heidi made it back to the chess chamber, with the magnificently transfigured marble chessmen which Neville, and Hermione had a feeling were Professor McGonagall's handiwork, Henry had completely recovered from his incident and was well enough to sit up and wave at them.

"Did you get it?" Daphne asked, as the foursome returned.

Neville nodded, "Yep, let's get going!"

"Do you need help?" Harry asked Henry, who shook his head in the negative.

The group returned back to the chamber with all the fluttering keys, and Neville had the honours of shutting the door behind them, in order to reset the puzzle. Harry had managed to kill off the flames in the logic challenge, and with the help of Hermione and Neville, used a triple-powered _Enervate _to revive the massive troll before making a mad dash back out back to their friends.

Harry cleared a way through them with fire through the Devil's Snare, and Daphne had pulled out her violin again, in anticipation of returning to Fluffy's room. He levitated Daphne first, who opened the trapdoor and seduced the Cerberus into an afternoon nap with her playing. The others followed, one-by-one until Harry was the last one left. Radiating his energy from his core, he pushed off, immersing himself with fire to shoo away the final tendrils of the Devil's Snare that had started ensnaring his leg.

Just as Harry re-locked the door and reassembled his invisibility shields, the golden galleon that he had kept in his pocket began to burn, signalling that the headmaster had came back from his fruitless chase after Remus.

"Shit, guys, Dumbledore's back!" Harry whispered to his companions, who nodded grimly back.

They proceeded calmly back up to the seventh floor, despite their elevated heart rates.

* * *

**A/N: **Stone retrieved! Ticks off to-do-list.

Review?

**Additional A/N:** I know the events have been an escalated version of what happened in the first book, but I figured that since Harry isn't around to go sneaking about to discover the properties of the Mirror at Christmas-ish time, Dumbledore's already fully set his trap.

SD


	19. XIX - Trolling

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **The usual disclaimer. I do not own HP.

* * *

**Chapter XIX – Trolling **

Albus Dumbledore arrived back in his office in a swirl of royal purple robes embroidered with pure gold thread, nearly knocking over one of the spiny tables containing several of his priceless silver instruments upon his arrival. He felt like he had just returned from a wild goose chase, considering that his 'goose' had vaporized into thin air.

In his crow form, he did not have the endurance of Remus' broom, so he fatigued while his quarry's slow and battered broomstick cruised easily forward rather mockingly. At the two hour point of the chase, he found himself lagging further and further behind, so he decided to stop, in a deserted Muggle area.

After taking the time to catch his breath, he swore when he realized his stupidity. Albus knew he was a great wizard, an excellent planner, but unfortunately for him, his recent failures were taking a toll on his own sanity.

Maybe he was getting too old for this.

It hadn't been since the days of the young Gellert that his plans had gone so awry. He winced as the flash of his blackest memories ignited within his mind, and shook his head, his great beard and hair swished in the wind. He should have placed a Tracking Spell on the man, and then he should have summoned or transfigured some flying apparatus.

He had then tried a simple 'Point Me' spell, but little did Albus know that when used to locate individuals, the spell relied on the person's Owl Trace signature, a fact known to the privileged few who bothered with the magic of owl post. The Remus illusion had no such trace, and the real Remus had long since altered his Trace, making it impossible to pinpoint his former minion's position.

His wand had merely glowed red when the spell was exacted. It was then, when Albus had a hunch that he had been deceived based on the information that he knew. The person on the broom, according to his logic, was probably a Polyjuiced individual.

It didn't occur to him that there were people in the world that were capable of creating viable Doppelgängers that had the capability of lasting for over an hour, or in the case of Ivan's – three. He had tried the charm once, and it had only lasted thirty minutes.

_But, why? Why would someone deliberately draw him out from Hogwarts?_

His first thoughts immediately led him to the Stone, but he pushed the thoughts away. His Voldie-possessed Professor was a one man-one spirit team. He couldn't be in two places at once, can't he?

_Unless if he had a time-turner._

Albus shrugged. If Quirrell did indeed get that far, his Alert Wards would have long picked him up. He hadn't sensed them being breached. After all, his Alert Wards were almost impossible to remove. Only he knew how to negate them.

Of course, Albus never bothered to keep up with new Law Enforcement technologies from the rather magically advanced country of the USA.

But since chasing after 'Remus' had proven futile, he might as well proceed back to his office and take a calming walk. After all, his most loyal Severus had told him that Quirrell only knew how to get past the dog.

After having arrived at his office, he took a few moments to fix his wind-blown hair and beard, as well as to straighten his spectacles, which were slightly knocked askew. He descended down the steps and passed the old stone gargoyle that guarded his quarters. He leisurely walked on the third floor, giving the occasional friendly wave to passing students, and even noticed Mr. Zabini and Mr. Boot, first year Ravenclaw and first year Slytherin having a chit-chat next to a statue.

There seemed to be a lot of inter-House friendships that seemed to be formed among the latest batch of first-years.

Humming contentedly, he walked on, not noticing that Mr. Boot had taken out a shiny golden galleon, and Mr. Zabini had retrieved his wand, and had discreetly tapped the coin three times.

* * *

Just as Harry's little group started to walk up the nearest flight of stairs to the fourth floor, on their way to the Room, Hermione nudged Daphne.

"Look behind us," she whispered.

Daphne nodded, and looked. She saw the Headmaster walking towards the Forbidden Corridor. The Headmaster seemed to give them a friendly wave, but Harry, who had spread out his magical energy all around him for the entire duration of his visit of Hogwarts, saw the familiar rays of the "_Homenum Revelio_" spell. It was cast non-verbally by Dumbledore's stationary wand.

He immediately and instinctively deflected the Revealing spell away from himself with a sliver of his own energy.

_Nice to know Remus and Forest's training wasn't done in vain._

The invisible Harry stopped on the stairs and turned to survey his attacker. The old wizard started walking onwards towards the locked door after discerning that there were no invisible individuals present. Harry then used his own magic to examine Dumbledore's own Occlumency barriers. They were rock solid, but Harry's acute magical sense could pick up a crack or two. He sensed a mixture of worry and frustration in the old puppeteer as he caught a glimpse or two of the failed attempt to catch Remus.

He chuckled to himself.

After that, Albus had walked out of range, and Harry hurried to catch up with his friends, who were already on the fifth floor.

* * *

"What took you so long, Harry?" Daphne asked when Harry had just entered and shut the simple wooden door that led to their hideout.

_:. Where were you Master? We were frantic! .:_

Henry added, "Yeah, we thought we would have to go back for you or something!"

"Or Dumbledore –" Hermione trailed off, the worry on her face was clearly evident.

"When he waved at us with his left hand, he cast a Revealing Spell with his wand –" Harry started to say.

"Bloody hell! Did he see you?" Hannah exclaimed.

Henry hissed, "That's rather conniving of him! Bloody bastard!"

"Are you sure he was a Gryffindor back when he went to Hogwarts?" Anthony mused to Hermione, "Seems as slippery as a snake, that one."

Stephen interrupted, "Well, seeing that he's still here, I take it was a no."

"I deflected it with my magic." Harry explained further, "Then I took a peep at his mind."

"You did Legilimency on our Headmaster?" Hermione gasped.

Neville added, "Seriously? Merlin!"

"Woah, how powerful are you, Harry?" Henry looked amazed.

Harry put his hands up to wave away the compliments, "No, I didn't do Legilimency on him. Sometimes, if you just send your Legilimency probe just near the person, you can pick up the most conscious of thoughts, especially if they are emotional ones like anger and frustration."

"Wow." Henry exclaimed, "You should come more often and teach us your ways."

"Oh, speaking of which," Harry put his hands into one of his inner cloak pockets and pulled out a rather old-fashioned handheld mirror and handed it to Hermione.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Vanity objects?"

"It's a two-way mirror. If you guys need me, or help in general, feel free to contact me. I have the other one on me." Harry explained, countering Daphne with his own eye roll, which made her laugh.

"So, what are we going to do about Quirrell?" Henry asked, "I mean, are we just going to leave him be?"

"We are actually working on that. But I know that Quirrell will most likely make another attempt soon –"

"What? How do you know?" Neville looked surprised.

"Remember what I wrote about what we overheard at the Hog's Head?" Harry asked, "About how he knows about dog's secret?"

Anthony exclaimed, "Ooh! But what are we going to do about it?"

Harry grinned widely, "Nothing... absolutely nothing at all!"

* * *

Harry, wearing a simple Muggle dark t-shirt, with a silvery oriental dragon design that spanned a shoulder to the center of his torso, walked into his laboratory.

The black resistant countertops of the five work benches that spanned the room were covered with simmering cauldrons – both of Forest and his own creations, jars, tins, and vials of ingredients - both bizarre and mundane, scales, and some research apparatus that Forest had brought along from his previous life in America, such as protein transfer equipment (powered by magic), and a high-quality confocal microscope that could have easily cost thousands of galleons hooked up to the best computer that money could buy. In addition to all this, Forest had bought and procured many things since his first day as Harry's tutor, and taught his pupil the principles of scientific research, as well as the know-how to become an expert Potions brewer.

There were also several fridges and heaters in the room, all set to specific temperatures and an ingredients closet (newly charmed) that held all the things that could not be stored outside. To make the room more cheery, Harry had several different kinds of plants growing, including a round flat plastic pot hung on the ceiling containing a green plant whose vines that draped downwards in the corner of the room.

Harry walked over towards his dark haired, but bright-eyed Potions Master who was busy putting together a protein separating gel-electrophoresis, while pausing here and there to check on some of his own brews in the making. Harry knew that his teacher preferred to do things by hand in the lab; his reasoning was that doing things manually removed an extra variable in his observations – magic.

Ever since Harry had retrieved the Philosopher's Stone, he had noticed that Forest had become rather withdrawn, and was no longer his jovial self. His face looked more lined, and tired.

He actually looked his age.

"Hey, Forest," Harry called out, softly, his own green eyes scanning over the man.

Forest finished loading a smelly sample into an almost invisible well in the gel before looking up at his student, "Hullo, Harry."

"Is there anything wrong? You've been hiding in our lab ever since we infiltrated Hogwarts."

Forest stopped for a long moment and sighed, "I can't really hide anything from you, Harry? You are the first who had bothered to ask."

Harry showed him a grin, "Of course, not. I told you what I did to our old friend Albus the other day..."

The researcher loaded his last blue sample into the gel, and attached the lid to the power supply, before replying rather nonchalantly even though Harry knew he was struggling to maintain his emotions, "I made a Philosopher's stone, once upon a time."

"Did you?" Harry quirked a dark eyebrow in surprise, "How come you never..."

"Published?" Forest laughed the first time in days, but it was rather dark, and humorless, "Those were the worst days of my life. When you brought the Stone back..." The man trailed off, looking rather wistfully at the blue line of dye moving down the acrylamide gel, separating proteins by size.

"Back and what?" Harry stared at the gel himself, watching the bubbles rise from the buffer that bathed the setup.

"It made me think about –" Forest paused, "The reasons behind creating it."

Harry shrugged, "But immortality and infinite gold is the ultimate dream of mankind, is it not?"

"No." Forest's body language changed from calm to frustration in a split second, "Those mean nothing, nothing at all to me."

"Then why bother?" Harry inquired, "Prestige?"

"No!" Forest almost shouted his answer out. The man fumbled with his pockets, pulled out a dark sleek dragon-hide wallet designed to hold the indestructible paper currency of the Magical US and removed an old photograph from one of the pockets.

Harry took the picture from Forest's slightly trembling hand. It was an animated picture from what Harry perceived as from happier times. The Forest in the picture was younger, his dark hair short, and his eyes would often gaze at the pretty, blonde and blue-eyed woman that was leaning beside him. She had an impish grin on her face, which suggested mischief to Harry. She held baby Hadrian in her lap.

"Love... do you know what it means to truly love someone?" Forest said after a moment of silence.

Harry shook his head.

"You are young but yet so wise. I treat you as an adult, but often I forget..." Forest stopped.

"What happened to her?" Harry whispered, finally daring to speak after the awkward silence had fallen.

"She's dead." Forest said tonelessly, "I couldn't – I couldn't... save her."

"Was she murdered?" Harry remembered sudden green flashes in his dreams.

Forest replied back, "No. Her cells killed her. Bloody cancer of all things – nature is painfully ironic for a researcher who specialized in disease."

"Isn't that a Muggle disease?" Harry asked.

"No. But it's extremely rare." Forest explained, "It's a misconception, but since there is so few wizard-folk in England, the cases almost never happen. The magic gifted to us confers a powerful protection to our genetic material."

"So you made the Stone – to save her life?" Harry looked thoughtfully at his teacher.

"I looked at all avenues... Dark Arts books, Alchemy books, Muggle Clinical Trials – everything." Forest almost moaned in pain, "I came across a spell, in the most lethal and dangerous Dark Arts book that I possessed that could save her. I was mad, driven into insanity. Harriet begged me, no, pleaded with me to not use the spell and ritual, for to save a life, demands a life. Upon later, saner reflection, I realized that Harriet had saved me from myself hitting rock-bottom – her last gift, to me."

"You were willing to kill." Harry whispered, after processing everything.

Forest bowed his head in shame, "I was. I was also willing to sacrifice, myself."

Harry looked at his tutor in surprise. He couldn't imagine someone willing to kill themselves so someone else could live even though he knew that his own mother had done the same. It was crazy. He read enough about the Dark Arts that he knew what the ritual may have involved. It was a magic that was as foul as the creation of Horcruxes, which Harry knew about after digging through a few of Forest's supposedly heavily warded bookshelf. It did, however, paint a more human picture of the seemingly intelligent and charismatic Forest.

"So, you made the Stone." Harry continued.

"Yes, I made the Stone." Forest whispered hoarsely, "But I... I... I was too late. Harriet perished the day before it was ready. I finished the Stone, tested it... and I destroyed it, along with my notes in a meticulously controlled Fiendfyre the week after."

"But why?"

"It was the ultimate display of my failure. It taught me, that there were limitations to what was possible. Science couldn't save everything. It represents..."

"Everything that could have been," Harry finished, with insight.

Forest sighed nostalgically, "Yes, everything that could have been. Aptly put, young Harry. And when my rational mind finally kicked in. I realized it was the right thing to do. I have no need of gold – my business venture in America has made me filthy rich, nor did I want to live forever. I never wanted to live forever. Plus, if the Stone is in the wrong hands..."

"Immortality is unnatural." Harry agreed, there were consequences for cheating death based on what Harry himself had read in the Dark Arts books, "And if Quirrell did indeed get the Stone..."

"We'd have an immortal Dark Lord running around." Forest continued, "I know what I think you should do with the stone. But, I also acknowledge, that the decision is up to you. Think upon it!"

* * *

In the morning of All Hallows' Eve, the little group was gathered at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. The ceiling of the Great Hall hung with black and orange pennants, and illusions of bats swooped high in the air along with elaborately carved jack-o-lanterns, courtesy of Professor Flitwick's artistry, and Hagrid's pumpkin patch. Uncarved pumpkins were distributed uniformly among all the tables, while a Halloween theme was observed in the buffet. Toast was baked in all sorts of ghoulish shapes, from ghosts to zombies while other food was arranged in a grotesque manner, like sausage fingers.

Blaise fed one of the sausage fingers to Heidi, as Neville grinned at two pieces of toast – one bat shaped, and the other vampire shaped. "Which do you think represents our favorite Potions Professor?"

"Hmm..." Henry pondered over Neville's question seriously.

Hannah exclaimed, "Got to be the vampire. Snape's skin is so pale, it's like he's never met sunlight!"

"Bat or vampire, he's still a greasy git," Anthony contributed, "I recommend not eating him anytime soon."

"All that grease might just choke you," Blaise laughed.

"Sounds horribly unhealthy – don't recommend it." Hermione quipped, as Neville took a menacing bite, decapitating the vampire.

"Shame we have class today," Su sighed, "I certainly don't feel like going."

"Me too." Terry, her fellow Ravenclaw, groaned, "I want to laze around, and eat candy!"

"Remember last year?" Blaise smiled wistfully.

"What did you guys do last year?" Terry asked, over his toasted bagel, which had been given bulging dough eyes, rather like a frog's.

"Trick-or-Treating!" Hannah exclaimed, "It's a Muggle thing."

"Really? How quaint!" Henry looked over his toast sandwich, piled high with bacon, sausage, tomatoes, scrambled eggs and all other sorts of fare found on the breakfast buffet., "Do explain further!"

"Well, basically, kids dress up and visit houses and say Trick-or-Treat!" Blaise explained, "And we get candy, loads of candy!"

"Yeah, and Grey took us last year. It was really, really fun!" Neville added, "We transfigured our own stuff too!"

"And we went around the neighbourhood where I live. Took us an entire evening!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And, who knew, that Muggles have such delicious chocolate bars!" Blaise had a wistful look in his eye.

Henry mock-glared at him, "And you didn't save me any? You greedy bastard!"

"And this is said by the guy who bought six-hundred chocolate frogs, and we probably still haven't finished half of them yet!" Tracey admonished, with a grin.

Henry was about to say something, but the sounds of an explosion was heard throughout the Great Hall followed by screams and yells. The innocent uncarved pumpkins that that sat at regular intervals on the tables, including the ones at the Head Table exploded and a stream of rats, mice and furry large spiders streamed out from the exploded pumpkins. Blaise had knocked his plateful of food off the table, Hannah was as white as sheet, Henry flinched, glared and attempted to shoo off the mouse and its buddy, a rat, that were attempting to steal his sandwich, and Daphne shrieked when a spider started inching towards her, Tracey cowered behind Neville who after being startled by the suddenness of the explosion began vanishing some of the creepy crawlies that had came out to play. Anthony and Terry had both jumped, Stephen had almost hit his head against Terry and Hermione had shrieked.

But everyone's eyes turned to Ronald Weasley, who was petrified when several spiders and rodents made their way towards him. His appendages were shaking, and his teeth were chattering, before he fainted with a thud on the ground.

"Didn't take him as an arachnophobe!" Blaise remarked, rather dryly. He immediately began helping everyone else that was busy trying to vanish the creatures.

"Check out the Head Table!" Tracey pointed.

The Head Table was in no better shape than the other tables. Professor Trelawney had fainted, Professor Snape was furious; Professors Flitwick and McGonagall had amused looks on their faces after the initial shock, while Dumbledore had several mice that had jumped into his long beard. Hagrid had been looking at the animals with delight.

"Who did this?" Henry groaned, "It's scary as hell!"

"You've got to admit, it was pretty funny once the scare wore off," Hannah mused.

"Look at Draco;" Tracey grinned widely while pointing towards the Slytherin Table, "He's got the "My Father will hear about this" face on!"

"Merlin, you're bloody right!" Henry smirked back at his friend.

Neville grinned sheepishly when Fred Weasley gave him a wink from across the table.

* * *

"Neville, you cunning bastard, you were behind this, weren't you?" Blaise hissed to his friend shortly afterwards.

Henry added, "Don't play coy, Neville, we know."

Neville merely grinned widely but kept his mouth shut.

"Come on Neville. Be a sport, won't you?" Henry pleaded.

"It was bloody brilliant, if it was you." Blaise acknowledged.

"What was bloody brilliant?" Hannah had caught up to the three.

Henry smiled, "Neville's little prank earlier this morning."

"Neville! Merlin, it was you?" Hannah exclaimed.

"Shush, we don't want the entire school to know." Henry whispered.

Blaise begged, "Please let us in on it next time?"

"Pretty please?" Henry pleaded.

Neville shook his head, "I've had help, by the way. And you know that old Muggle saying – too many cooks spoil the broth, or soup!"

"Fine, we will beat you at your own game!" Henry exclaimed, "Blaise, Hannah and I will come up with something so jaw-dropping –"

"Hang on a sec, did I just get voluntold?" Hannah stage-whispered to Blaise.

Blaise chuckled, "When the madman gets an idea, we better do what he says. You know how he gets-"

Hannah and Neville dissolved into giggles.

Henry shot them all a glare.

* * *

Filius Flitwick surveyed his class of first year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs with interest. He had noted that this new batch of first years seemed to have a lot of potential in general. Today, he had assigned them work on the Colour Charms, and had piled a various array of different objects on the long benches that filled his classroom. He had asked his students to change them at will, based on the readings that he had assigned them the week prior.

He also thought it was fascinating how students in different Houses were inter-mingling as well. For example, Ms. Abbott and Mr. Zabini were sitting together, and they had taken an old ugly and gaudily striped cushion, charmed it black, with alternating grey stripes and added black tassels as a decorative touch. In reality, colour charms were one of the most difficult concepts to master in the first year curriculum, and Filius was impressed that they were able to change the various coloured stripes into something uniform, and more pleasing to the eye. He had given Slytherin and Hufflepuff ten points each for the work, and had displayed it proudly to the rest of the class.

Filius knew that there was something odd going on this year. Ever since Harry didn't show up to Hogwarts, it seemed to throw everything off-kilter. Albus always seemed distracted, Quirrell had changed greatly since he had left for his sabbatical – the once promising young man had turned into a rather smelly and twitchy man – and the rumors _about_ his teaching indicated that he had gone downhill since his travels, and students were breaking down the House barriers and making friends with people outside of their sorted Houses.

He sighed.

This brought him back to another conversation that he had accidentally overheard over a month back between four of his first years – Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Blaise Zabini and Hannah Abbott – the four of his top students conferring near the Great Lake. They had been talking about plans and loyalty to someone. He wasn't quite sure who this loyalty referred to, and in terms of plans, he had overheard too little to make out what they were. But, alas, he had been listening so intently that he had fallen over the bushes that he had been precariously perched on, rather careless of him, and that resultant noise had effectively brought their conversation to a halt.

He jumped down the stack of books that sat on his chair and made his way towards his students for a second round of tutelage. He easily climbed up one of the tables, so that he was standing face to face with his students so he could correct their wand techniques or their incantations and made his normal rounds. When he finally got to Hannah and Blaise, he decided to put one of his own plans to action.

"Mr. Zabini, Ms. Abbott, please speak with me, after class."

"But Professor Flitwick, we have History of Magic next!" Blaise exclaimed, after Henry and Daphne gave them inquisitive looks which Blaise deciphered as the 'are you guys in trouble' look.

Filius grinned knowing about how dreadfully useful that class is, "I assure you, you'd rather be here then there." He walked off, listening amusedly to the conversation that ensued.

"Bloody hell, that man is right!" Blaise exclaimed.

Henry grumbled, "Lucky bastard!"

"But I don't have History next! I have Snape!" Hannah groaned.

Blaise grinned, "I suppose the Professor's statement fits your situation too."

Henry, Daphne, Hannah and Blaise burst into laughter.

* * *

"So, what are you going to do about the Stone, Harry?" Remus asked, as Harry slunk down on his leather sofa, exhausted from another day's worth of training with the relentless Ivan.

To make him even more exhausted, Ivan had started creating wards that Harry had to break with his own magic-sense. This training relied on Harry having to use his own intuition, since traditional ward and curse breakers used specialized anti-ward and anti-curse wand-work to accomplish what they wanted. Ivan, knowing that Harry's magical gifts would allow him to disassemble any type of ward without the need to memorize a plethora of specific breaking spells, wanted his pupil to develop his own specialized methods.

Harry shrugged when Remus passed him the Stone. The lot of them were currently keeping the Stone in the laboratory, in a hidden area. It was heavily warded, including Alert Wards that could be sensed by everyone involved.

He looked at the sort of translucent crimson-bloody stone curiously. The flames that illuminated the living room also caused light to dance around the stone. It was hard to believe that this little object was the culmination of thousands of years of research in alchemy. Harry summoned a fork from the Kitchen with a simple flick of his finger and pressed the metallic object against the stone. A few seconds later, and the fork had turned into a solid gold fork.

He repeated this with several other metallic objects. It wasn't long before he had a gold spoon, ruler, needle, and a golden tray.

"What do you think I should do with it, Remus?" Harry asked, after the display of the Stone's abilities.

Remus sighed, "Return it to rightful owner?"

"Nicolas Flamel? Who entrusted the bloody Stone to Dumbledore for such a foolish plan?" Harry groaned.

"You've got a point there. It's dangerous. It's rather ironic..." Remus mused onwards.

Harry replied a little sharply, "What's so ironic about it?"

"The colour. The colour of blood," Remus continued patiently, "It seems to be a reflection of human nature. Do you know how many people would kill to have that little piece of alchemy that sits in your hand now?"

"Forest wants me to destroy it." Harry murmured, more to himself than Remus, whose eyes widened.

There was a brief silence, before Remus spoke, "It's odd, but he looks at that Stone like it's a great evil ever since you brought it here. I wonder why."

Harry remembered the rather private conversation he had with his Potions tutor, "Let's just say that the Stone brings more unhappiness than happiness."

"Humans are terrible at choosing the things that truly matter." Remus observed, "All the gold and the life to spend it. Greed and gluttony rolled into one red stone. Well, I am glad I am not making the choice."

Harry sighed loudly, and resumed looking at the Stone intensely, as if the answers to the universe lay within.

* * *

The Halloween Feast that greeted the Hogwarts students after a long arduous day of classes was a sight to behold. Instead of the mere illusions of bats from earlier in the day, real live ones fluttered about, roosting in the various nooks and crannies that were present in the upper reaches of the Great Hall. Sombre looking candles of all sizes and shapes were levitated around in the air, while the same jack-o-lanterns from earlier were now illuminated with flames of all sorts of different colours.

Henry helped himself to a great heaping of Shepherd's Pie, a slice of Quiche and Chicken wings before diving in. Blaise, his fellow glutton, had followed suit. Hannah noted in amusement that the two had impeccable table manners, despite their insatiable appetites, compared to the great slob of Ronald Weasley who would talk with his mouth full and all sorts of other nuances that would cause his fellow table-mates to cringe over by the Gryffindor Table.

The lot was sitting at the Hufflepuff table.

"So, what did Professor Flitwick talk to you guys about?" Daphne leaned towards Blaise and Hannah, who were sitting across from her as she helped herself to a jacket potato served with a mixture of cheeses, herbs and slivers of bacon.

"What?" Hermione inquired.

Blaise held up his hand as he was busy chewing his next mouthful and Hannah spoke for him, "Well, basically we were doing Colour Charms in class..."

"Yeah, that's what we did too, yesterday." Neville said, while feeding Heidi a chicken breast that had been baked with a crispy skin.

"He seemed pretty impressed by our work, so he asked us to stay behind after class..." Hannah continued onwards.

"Yeah, we know that bit." Tracey interrupted, "Can we get to the main bit?"

"So he asked us to-"

At that moment, all attention was directed at Professor Quirrell, who had bolted into the room, his turban slightly lopsided and he was breathless as he leaned on the Head Teacher's table for support.

"Troll in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."

The possessed DADA professor fainted, and all hell broke loose.

* * *

Hadrian, the blond haired boy that looked so much like his mother, snuck into Harry's living room after having been coaxed into taking a nap. The boy was getting a little bit annoyed with all the naptime, he was five now. He wanted to have the same sleeping hours as everyone else in the flat. He had deliberately left the bed twenty minutes later after pretending to have fallen asleep.

He had noticed that his Uncle Harry and Uncle Remus were nowhere to be seen, his Daddy was probably in that room with all those strange smelling liquids and stuff that he wasn't allowed to touch and his Aunt Tonks was in the kitchen, preparing a big bucket of something and hadn't noticed his escape from the hated naptime.

The blond boy's eyes gleamed when he saw that the mysterious room that he hadn't been allowed in was open, the door held slightly ajar by a small block of wood. His curiosity got the better of him, even though his dad had told him that he was not allowed to enter the room, and he snuck in with stealth.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, we are definitely going to start diverging from the events of the books. Yay! Wonder what Flitwick's and Quirrell's got up their sleeves. Hadrian's being a typical kid. Tell a kid not to do something, and minutes later... BAM!

Sorry, I really can't promise days when I post chapters. My days are very unpredictable, although Sunday is usually a good posting day.

Review?


	20. XX - Mistakes on all Sides

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N:** I changed a little bit of Forest's and Harry's conversation from the previous chapter, because the Philosopher's Stone does not render one indestructible as explained later.

Don't own.

* * *

**Chapter XX – Mistakes on all Sides**

When Hadrian scampered into the room, all was silent.

It was unlike any room the little boy had ever seen. Instead of the rich dark tones of the beautiful maple wood that covered Harry's living room floor leading into the forbidden room, rocky slabs and jagged outcroppings of red-brownish stone served as the terrain. The enchanted skies and wall gave the room a wild feel, and exotic warm temperatures within completed the atmosphere.

Curious, the boy moved forward, towards the rocks jutting towards the sky that served as the 'nest' for the dragon hatchling. The rocks that made up the structure were easily two times as tall as the boy, and he almost gasped aloud when he saw the brown reptilian head.

The brown eyes, with gold flecks within blinked, and the sounds of sharp claws scratching against the rock made Hadrian wince.

A dragon.

That's what everyone had been hiding from him.

The dragon's spiny, but leathery wings were folded neatly against its torso, and the brown scales shone in the lighting provided by the room.

Now, what did his dad mention about dragons?

Hadrian thought about it.

There were plenty of stories with them, and they all seemed to be scary beasts, with fire, sharp claws, venomous teeth, sharp barbed tails and vicious attitudes. But this one seemed to be in repose.

Hadrian noticed a large plastic red tub located a few metres away from the dragon. It seemed to contain water.

He filed that information away in his young brain.

He walked around the large pieces of rock that made up the dome shape of the nest. He eventually came to a side that was unblocked, and that's when the dragon's jewel-like eye gazed upon him.

_Uh oh._

The dragon, no longer calm, issued a snarl, and let out a puff of smoke from its nostrils. It took a few quick strides forward.

Just as the dragon was about to breathe out a tiny stream of flame, Hadrian instinctively waved his arm in the air. He was shocked when the once-stagnant water sloshed in the bucket. He waved his arm again, and this time, the water made a great leap out its red container and drenched the dragon with the liquid while dousing whatever flames it had issued in a hiss of steam.

The dragon, completely unhappy with its wet state, let out a small roar. Hadrian quickly raised his hand up towards his face, and the water droplets that saturated the dragon lifted upwards and formed a blob similar to water under zero-gravity environments. The blond boy then brought the water forcefully back onto the dragon with a loud splash, just as the she-dragon had been itching to lunge forward towards her young attacker. Completely humiliated by the second drenching, the dragon turned away from the boy and scrambled away making a sound that sounded oddly like a whimper.

"Hadrian! Merlin!" Tonks' shocked voice echoed the room, "The hell are you doing here?"

"Auntie, I made the dragon wet!" Hadrian called out rather proudly, as if talking about a puppy.

Tonks was absolutely flabbergasted. Forest was going to be absolutely pissed. She had left the door open, because it was a hassle having to undo all the locks and wards all the time, and with Hadrian safely sleeping away, she had thought it wouldn't have mattered. And, was that ball of water a figment of her imagi-.

No, apparently not. The boy had just gathered all the water that had spilled onto the floor, and was busy making simple shapes with it.

_Bloody hell, what were the odds._

Tonks levitated the bloody brandy mixture into the cave, beside the water-logged dragon who was cowering behind the red bucket. She refilled the water container with an _Aguamenti_ and a flick of her wand.

She scooped up the protesting Hadrian, marched out of the room, and closed the enchanted door with more force than necessary. The water that Hadrian had been playing with fell into a simple puddle on the rocky ground.

* * *

"Go back to our dorms?" Blaise hissed to Henry in shock, "Didn't they bloody say that the damned troll was in the dungeons?"

"Yeah, so?" One of the prefects who had been marching the Slytherins back to their common room overheard them. His pompous manner rather irked Henry.

"Isn't our bloody dorms in the dungeons?" Henry snapped, "So why in Merlin..."

"Language, Mr. Winters," Professor Snape reprimanded his young charge from behind, causing both Blaise and Henry to jump, "And no, the troll is being dealt with by the other Professors on another floor." The sour man turned towards two of his nearest prefects, "Mr. Elliot, and Ms. Hudson, please escort your fellow Housemates to the dorm. I've got some business to attend to."

"Yes, sir," Both prefects nodded respectfully to their Head of House.

When Snape was out of sight, Imogen Hudson, the sixth year prefect, said severely to both Blaise and Henry, "You two ought to have more respect for our Head. I hear what you guys talk about him behind his back, but honestly..."

Henry scoffed, "Really, Imogen, I think –"

Draco cut in with a superior drawl, "Yeah, show some respect for my Godfather, won't you."

"Honestly, Draco, if you think that ups his favour in our eyes –" Blaise started saying. He hated it when Draco acted so high and so mighty – his family wasn't the only one with prestige and connections.

"You do realize that our Professor Snape is the reason why we aren't completely downtrodden by the other Houses?" Imogen defended.

Blaise huffed, "Honestly, you guys are just as prejudiced as everyone else. I mean Henry, Daphne, Tracey, Millicent and I have friends in all of the Houses. It's because you guys act as bloody recluses-"

"Yeah, and Snape isn't the epitome of equality either, he treats the Gryffs like shit!" Henry exclaimed, "It's really unfair, and even if you guys don't realize it, he destroys a lot of opportunities for a lot of students in the other Houses. Potions is a crucial subject for studies later on."

"Traitors, the lot of them..." Draco mumbled darkly to his cronies, who nodded dumbly, "Gryffindor loving, mud-loving traitors."

"Now guys, really not the time to hash it out here," Thomas, the other sixth year prefect, try to nip the stewing dissonance in the bud.

"Someday, that ponce of a Malfoy is really going to get what he deserves," Henry whispered darkly to his friend, as they entered their common room.

* * *

Forest Malfoy sat on a comfortable dark leather swivel chair; his pale long fingers playing with the knobs and buttons on the complex piece of machinery in front of him at the back of the lab. The room was completely shrouded in darkness, the only lights coming from the brightly illuminated screen from the computer and the flickering of lights from the various devices that were hooked up to the monitor. He had been in hiding for at least a week, burying his reawakened past with experiments.

On Harry's unspoken behalf, he had painstakingly dug through all his old notes and articles, some in his writing, some in others in regards to the Philosopher's Stone that he still had left anticipating the boy's questions. He was glad the decision regarding the Stone wasn't his to make, and as a scientist at heart, he knew that he was too emotional, versus the objectivity needed to make the right decision. The stack of old parchment sat beside his cardboard slide folder, a simple affair with slots to put microscope slides, and folded up to protect the fluorescent specimens from bleaching. A simple Muggle paperclip clipped it shut.

Satisfied with his readjustments, Forest removed a slide from the holder and placed it on the stage of the scope.

"Forest," The suddenness of the voice in the deadly quiet room made him flinch.

"Harry," The pale man replied back after taking a few seconds to recompose himself.

"I wanted to ask..."

"Questions are always welcome. Ask away..." Forest turned on the various lasers of the microscope in turn and began to adjust the exposure and the focus of whatever he was looking at for each laser. The fourth and last laser could not be seen with the naked eye, but Harry saw the infrared laser flash with his magic-sense.

"How does the Elixir of Life work, exactly?"

Forest turned off the laser, summoned his wand, and relit the room's candles with fire. He took the stack of papers that he had on hand, and a few moments later, produced an old battered copy of _Hybrid – Biochemistry_. Harry's eyes widened when the issue was from the early 1980s. Forest flipped it to a page which Harry noticed had the name Perenelle Flamel, and the words Retracted and Controversy was scrawled messily at the top of the page in writing that was clearly not Forest's elegant flourish.

"Perenelle Flamel..."

"The wife of old Nicolas; I think, her only flaw is that she wanted a bit of sensation especially after laying low with her husband for centuries. She is just as brilliant as her partner, if not more and maybe a little mad." At Harry's inquiring look at the page, Forest continued, "She wrote this under a pseudonym. But of course, everyone knew it was her."

Forest flipped a few pages, the parchment crinkled. Harry noted that the text was heavily marked and notes in miniscule cramped writing were tightly crammed on the margins of the particular article. When he finally got to the Discussion, Forest pointed to a bracketed off section.

Harry took the paper from his mentor, and read.

_According to the results of our study, the Elixir appears to have interesting biological components that negate genetic damage to the cells immersed in the liquid. Telomerase, an enzyme recently discovered by Blackburn et al., was found to be expressed in the various types of cells that were incubated with the Elixir within a few hours. This telomerase, we theorize, extends the ends of the chromosomes in these cells based on the work of the group we mentioned prior, and prevents the vital DNA from being eroded away by extending the telomeres after each cell division. Previous studies have shown that with every cell division, the ends of the chromosomes become shortened. The typical somatic cell can only divide thirty to fifty times, before damage to the vital code is produced as according to Hayflick's Limit in non-magical beings, while the threshold for magical ones is around sixty to a hundred._

_In the second experiment, we had three different populations of cells – healthy cells, a mixture of cancerous and healthy cells, and a population of cancerous genetic mutants. After exposure to the Elixir, an almost miraculous result was achieved. The cancerous cells in the second population lost their diseased phenotype, and regular apoptosis was observed in the cells not anchored to the bottom of our culture dishes. Within hours, there was no sign that these cultures ever contained a diseased cell. Upon months later when the DNA sequencing results returned, it was observed that the damaged DNA of the once mutants matched their healthy counterparts. We were able to distinguish between the cancerous and healthy cells using the markers described by the Methods Section. No change was observed in the purely cancerous culture, suggesting that the Elixir needs a healthy template to work upon. _

_These experiments were conducted based on reasoning on why human bodies cannot reach immortality. Any person, be they magical or not, will eventually succumb to mutations in their genome, provided that they live long enough as the telomeres of their dividing cells shrink. This theory is based upon the observed immortality of our germ-line cells – our gametes which express telomerase but stop once cell differentiation begins. _

After reading the paragraphs, Harry sat down on the closest lab chair and thought while Forest resumed his microscopy. Forest had just hit the Acquire button with a click of his mouse, and Harry watched as the four different lasers flashed in succession, and an image of a flat cell with four different fluoresced colours appeared on the screen: pink for the membrane, conventional blue DAPI stain for the nucleus and red and green for whatever proteins Forest was interested in.

"The Elixir of Life is of virtually no use to Voldemort, or Quirrell!" Harry exclaimed after pondering for several minutes, "I mean the Elixir repairs genetic damage according to Perenelle's observations! It doesn't render one indestructible! Voldemort's got no body, and Quirrell is dying because Voldemort's spirit is leeching the life out of him!"

"Well, you see, no one's bothered to tell Quirrell or Voldemort. And I am sure you-know-who is desperate to try any avenue at this point." Forest said rather humorously, "Also, the immortality implied here means that you will live forever, providing that you don't catch a fatal illness, get gravely injured, etc."

"Then, why did you destroy the Stone?" Harry had a sudden flash of insight, "You had the cure to bloody cancer! Isn't finding a cure for diseases something you used to do for a living?"

"Harry... Harry..." Forest suddenly looked grave and pained.

"Forest..." Harry trailed off but then continued on, "I know you weren't thinking straight after your wife died... It's like you destroyed the Stone in a fit of denial or something along those lines. And I don't get why Nicolas hasn't done anything... especially after this publication." The boy picked up the journal and waved it impatiently.

"You see... Nicolas wasn't willing to share his secret to the rest of the world. He felt that he was entitled to have the Stone die with him, whenever he chose it as the greatest alchemist that has ever lived. There was huge public backlash after the article was published, and Nicolas was furious with his wife that she had gone behind his back. With help of his friend Dumbledore and lots of gold in the right places, he was able to cool down the controversy and Perenelle was forced to retract her publication."

"Bloody hell, how many ugly plots has Dumbledore been involved in?" Harry was disgusted.

"You also have to realize, Harry that after this publication there was a fury of people who began to work on the Philosopher's Stone. The only reason I was able to make it," Forest paused for a second to look at an image on his computer, "Is that I had my mentor's notes. Erasmus Herbert is arguably one of the greatest Potions Masters of this century and he had been a friend of Nicolas, until he read Perenelle's paper. Until his death a few years back in the mid 80s, he worked on the Stone. Before he passed, he gave two of his graduated students his notes, in hopes that one of us had the interest to finish the job. With his notes, and journal accounts of all the other Masters that attempted, got close, but failed, I was able to discern with a bit of luck, the last few important steps in the process that was missing from Erasmus' notes."

"We have to rectify your previous error, Forest –"

The pair was interrupted when Tonks slammed the door with Hadrian squirming in her grip. Forest and Harry looked bewilderingly at Tonks in surprise. Forest got up from his sitting position.

"Hadrian, aren't you supposed to be napping?"

Tonks lowered her head rather apologetically, and let Hadrian run off from her grasp. Hadrian ran over to his father, who immediately wrapped an arm around his son's shoulders.

"I saw a dragon! A dragon! It breathed fire!" Hadrian exclaimed excitedly, letting the cat out of the bag a lot earlier than Tonks was planning to.

Before Forest could say anything, Tonks cut in, "I left the room to the lair open, because I was going to bring in a bucket of blood and brandy to the little bugger and it's such a hassle to levitate a bucket and open the door at the same time. And then..."

"Hadrian snuck out of his room, and got in." Forest finished; his voice serious, "Nymphadora!"

Tonks winced at the combination of being called by her hated first name, and the sharp tone of the father's voice, "I am so sorry! I checked upon him before I went to go feed the dragon, and he was sleeping!"

Forest stopped before taking a minute to control his anger, "It's not completely your fault." Seeing Tonks' look of shock, he elaborated, "I should have seen the signs. I knew Hadrian was going to do his utmost best to get in, and I should have put a ward on the door in the room he was supposed to be sleeping in. I've been a coward, hiding behind my experiments, not doing my duty to my son, and hiding from the mistakes of my past."

Forest then looked carefully at Hadrian, noting that his son had escaped the dragon, unscathed. "So what happened in there?"

"You aren't going to believe this, but Hadrian managed to get pretty damned close to the bloody dragon before I noticed anything was amiss. It was going to breathe fire in there but –"

"But what?" Harry spoke this time.

"He somehow managed to dump the contents of the red water bucket onto the dragon and the incoming fire. I think your son might be gifted with Water. Hadrian's bloody lucky that it was just a baby dragon in there, anyways." Tonks continued.

"Merlin, seriously?" Forest looked baffled and then looked at his little mischief-maker.

All he got was a sly little smile, and an innocent blue-eyed look.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore frowned when he felt something burn in his robes. The troll had been dealt with by Minerva and Filius, who had managed to knock the troll out with a pair of Stunning spells, and a good crack to the head with the troll's own wooden club on the third floor, near a washroom. He pulled out the offending object from the folds of his robes – it was one of his Alert orbs, which was glowing red.

He sighed. He quickly but as calmly as possible made his way to the Forbidden Corridor. He unlocked the door with a non-verbal _Alohomora _and conjured himself a tiny golden harp. Plucking a gentle lullaby on the strings, Fluffy fell asleep, slumped onto the ground. The trapdoor was already opened, and Albus jumped right through into the darkness, casting a flame charm on the way down. The snaring vines of the Devil's Snare retreated from the crackling fire, and the flames themselves illuminated his pet minion – Severus Snape, groaning in agony a few metres out of reach from the devilish plant.

"Albus!" Snape exclaimed, clutching his mauled leg in agony, "Hagrid's sodding pet got a good chunk of my leg!"

The Headmaster shook his head at his minion's mishap, and then asked,"Quirrell?"

"Gone on ahead!" Snape groaned in pain, "Go on, I've got some potions here to sustain me for the time being!"

"I will be back, Severus. Send a patronus to Minerva, and Filius, would you?"

The Headmaster hurried on, without a second glance at his injured Professor. The chamber of keys came in view, and Albus noticed that the door had been left right open. Before walking through, Albus gave his wand a wave and removed a tiny charm of his own devising, which would induce anyone who entered the Giant Chess Set to forget that the King could be a playable position. The Chess pieces had obviously reset themselves, but Albus merely swept his arms and canceled the plethora of charms and transfigurations that were present. The giant chess pieces shrunk back to their original size, and all enchantments that prevented the person from entering the next room were removed.

The old wizard then hurried up the next flights of stairs and threw open the next door with an impatient wave of his wand. The large troll was now dead, and the smell of decay setting in was nauseating in combination with normal troll odour.

He then came into the Room of Fire, and found that someone had long cancelled the fire that was supposed to spring up. Little did Albus know that Harry had effectively removed Severus' impressive fire-work, days before. Albus had only checked up to the Chess Set the day of the Stone's removal from Hogwarts and figuring that everything was in order had left it at that.

Albus ignored the bottles on the long bench that his Potions Master had painstakingly set up, and went to the final opening, where he peered in.

Quirrell was staring wide-eyed at the mirror of Erised and speaking quietly to what at first glance was to himself.

"The Stone... how does this mirror work? Do I smash it? I see myself present the Stone... the Stone to my Master, who will reward me..."

"You fool..." The voice was raspy, hissing. "The answer lies behind you!"

Quirrell slowly turned around from the mirror, wincing as if burned. He came face-to-face with Albus Dumbledore.

"So, you made it through..." Albus remarked, rather nonchalantly in manner.

"Hand over the Stone, Albus. There's... there's no need to have a great... fuss... about it." Quirrell managed to gasp out.

"You're dying," The headmaster observed simply, "I take it that Unicorn blood no longer sustains you the way it did... How did you get here, anyways – time-turner?" Albus noticed the hourglass that hung from Quirrell's neck.

"There's no time for this. Let me speak to him!" The high pitched voice almost shrieked.

"Master... master..." Quirrell mumbled in agony.

But without any of Quirrell's help, the purple turban unwrapped itself, and seemingly like a snake, it slithered off. Quirrell turned himself around, and revealed his second face. Deathly white, with dull red eyes – a face that was snake-like in appearance.

"So, we meet again, Tom." Albus said conversationally.

"Don't call me that! Where's the Stone, the Stone?"

The second face of Quirrell turned around to the mirror, and looked at it. Albus himself also took a look at the mirror, and before Tom could utter a word, he gasped himself, "The Stone, it's gone!"

The hideous face whirled towards Dumbledore with the speed of a snake, "What do you mean, gone?"

"Looks like we've both been beaten at our own game, Tom. The Stone was here, in this mirror – but..."

"But what?" Fury was building up in the nerve-grating voice of the soul fragment.

"It's been removed by a third party, not known to either you, or me."

The shock almost toppled the self-styled Dark Lord backwards, "You mean, to say, that someone has outwitted both of us? Where's Potter's brat? My understanding is that he'd attend this year, at Hogwarts!"

Albus shrugged, "No one has seen hide or hair of him, Tom. All I know is that he's alive."

Suddenly, Voldemort summoned Quirrell's wand in his anger, and despite the awkward positioning of Quirrell's arms relative to his own face, a duel commenced. Non-verbal flashes of light were exchanged, back and forth, with the occasional stray spell blowing up a chunk of the chamber the two men duelled in.

Just as Albus got the last hit in, Minerva and Filius dashed into the chamber and were present to view a hideous ghastly but formless dark shape leave Quirrell's body, which had been badly burned by a fire spell that Albus had used. The dark shape passed through a wall of the battered chamber and vanished.

"What was that, Albus?" Minerva was astounded, wrinkling her nose at the rotting and burnt flesh of the dead DADA professor.

Filius walked over to the dead rancid man, and looked down at the second face that had once been covered by Quirrell's turban, "This is a clear case of possession, Albus, what in Merlin is going on here? And did you just leave that..."

"Black thing leave?" Minerva was aghast, "What if it goes on to possess something else?"

"It cannot be helped," Albus finally said, "I cannot vanquish him, only the Chosen one could."

"You fool! Fiendfyre would have done the trick!" Filius looked horrified.

"It was Voldemort, wasn't it, Albus?" Minerva finally understood the crux of Albus' words. She was disgusted.

Filius turned a shade greyer and vaguely remembered the Headmaster's annoyance that James' son did not arrive at Hogwarts, "Did you set this all up, Albus? Was this all for Harry, as well?"

"Minerva, Filius, I did this, this all for the Greater Good!" Albus said, calmly, "Let's be rational here..."

"Albus, you are the only one who's irrational here. What were you thinking? Bringing in a Voldemort possessed DADA professor, offering to protect the Stone for Nicolas, and doing this, so that Harry could have a confrontation with the darkest of wizards-" Minerva's voice grew deadly cold with each word.

"Let's go Minerva, there's nothing we can do here." Filius looked at his formerly esteemed colleague with fury.

Albus looked at his two alienated professors with despair as they both left.

* * *

The next morning, at the Ravenclaw table, the group gathered for an early breakfast. There was great gossip amongst the students as they witnessed Professor Snape limping slightly towards the Head Table as he had gotten his leg healed after his little mishap with the dog, but there was residual pain that would take a day or two to go away due to the severity of the damage.

"You don't think-" Neville noticed the slight limp.

"Our favourite greasy bat paid a visit to our favourite hellhound?" Henry finished.

"Seems likely," Daphne took a look at her Head of House before turning her attention back to her food, which included a carrot muffin and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

"Hope it's really, I mean, really, hurting him." Terry mused, "It's probably nowhere compared to the collective anguish he's caused."

"Ooh, our favourite headmaster's going to speak, isn't he?" Hannah pointed at the rising Dumbledore.

Hermione observed, "And our pet possessed professor isn't here! He's usually here for breakfast."

"You are right!" Blaise looked over at the Head table again.

The headmaster quirked his wand to perform what some of the students recognized as a _Sonorous _charm and began to speak.

"Due to unfortunate circumstances, Professor Quirrell will be unavailable to teach for the rest of term. All Defence Against the Dark Arts classes will be cancelled until further notice. However, it is recommended that all years study ahead, and complete the essay questions that will be assigned to you weekly via your Common Room's bulletin board, and hand it in to a designated Professor who will mark your paper until an appropriate replacement can be found. That is all."

Blaise choked when Dumbledore mentioned the word 'appropriate'. The entire hall burst into spontaneous applause, which immediately died down due to the Headmaster's stern gaze.

"I fear the worst, actually." Henry groaned, "I wonder what really happened yesterday."

"Yeah, we were being good, weren't we?" Anthony added, "Stephen, Terry and I were tempted to have a good look down the Forbidden Corridor last night after the Feast was disbanded."

"I wonder if Voldemort's still around." Hermione looked at her sausage thoughtfully, "Or did he leave the castle?"

"So, anyways, what was this thing with Flitwick, anyhow?" Tracey finally broke the silence after Hermione's rather profound question.

Blaise sighed, "Oh, you lot are going to hear about it later during Charms class today or tomorrow. He wants to start a First Year Duelling Club or something since he noticed that we've got potential and asked Hannah and I to help run it."

"That sounds awesome!" Hermione almost squeaked, "You know he used to be the International Champion Duelist way back when."

"You know, I bet there's a catch to all this," Henry muttered, "He might be using it as a front to keep a close eye on us, you know."

"You are probably right." Hannah agreed, "There's too many odd things going on, -"

"But you know what'd be awesome?" Henry had a dreamy expression on his face.

"What?" Neville interrupted Henry's daydream.

"If Draco joins; just imagine all the fun..."

Henry's statement was met by laughter from all his friends.

* * *

**A/N: **

Minerva and Filius know!

Review?


	21. XXI - Scientific Dreams

**The Inbetween **- By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own.

* * *

**Chapter XXI – Scientific Dreams**

Henry was in his room, staring rather blankly at his Transfiguration essay that sat half written on the walnut wood table in front of him. He moved his stare upwards, towards the grey stone that made up the walls of the room, and then towards the large Slytherin banner that adorned the area close to the ceiling. He tossed his dark raven-feather quill carelessly down on the parchment and sighed. He then spared a gaze at the picture frame that sat at the corner of his desk, and grinned. It was a picture of his mother and father, with a younger version of himself standing happily outside the old Winters Manor, on a picture-perfect autumn day. In neat black robes, the younger him was in turn, serious and mischievous, standing solemnly a few seconds there, and crunching and chasing falling leaves the next while his parents looked on with a fond smile.

His fingers then moved towards an envelope that he had received earlier this morning from his father's Dark Messenger, Valkyrie. The she-falcon had given him an affectionate nip and took off shortly afterwards, after taking a nibble or two of bacon from the buffet fare. He broke the Winters Seal from the thick expensive envelope and pulled out the neatly folded missive.

_Dear Henry, _

_I hope my letter finds you well and studying! Anyways, let me cut to the chase here, the Board of Governors have received very strange letters the other day regarding the decease of your DADA Professor, Professor Q. Quirrell and we are wondering if you or any of your other friends have any information regarding this oddity. Yes, we understand from Dumbledore's previous explanation that there's a curse on the position that we've tried to break on previous attempts, but two months is a record! Mind you, I always take what the Headmaster says with a grain of salt, and I hope you do too. Even if the real explanation is as convoluted and mad as I hypothesize it will be, please don't hesitate in telling the truth: your dear old dad won't think you are barmy! _

_We are a week or two away from finalizing the panel of third-party investigators for our reassessment of Hogwarts. Your Headmaster will be given a day's notice (the minimum allowed) and based on a new decree that was cooked up between myself and a few other trustees, we will be collecting previous memories of each class from a volunteering student in each House. It will be discreet. As you might remember me mentioning to you a while back that decrees may be made by trustees without the input of the Headmaster providing that over half of the Board agrees. Albus won't bother looking up Decree changes since there hasn't been one since he's been Headmaster! We tip our hats off to Daphne, Tracey and Millicent for their involvement in these proceedings. _

_I hope your quest in Animagi is going well. Your mother mastered it when she was quite young as well! _

_With affection, _

_Your dad – M. Edward Winters _

_November 2, 1991 _

_PS. You know what to do with letters, right? Valkyrie will be back tomorrow for your response._

Henry had completely forgotten that his dad would learn about Quirrell's death due to his political position. But first, he refolded up the parchment and summoned his wand from his sleeve.

"_Incendio."_

A jet of blue fire carefully destroyed the letter, and with an easy flick of his wand, he vanished the ashes. His father had taught him how to vanish things, apply special writing charms that had been passed down from generation to generation and all sorts of other useful magic the months after he had gotten his own wand under the special wards of the Manor.

_To tell, or not to tell?_

Henry sighed and closed his eyes to meditate on his chair. As he started to reach the familiar deeper state, he felt the atmosphere around him shift. Instead of the usual coolness of his dorm room, he felt humidity and warmth which rather reminded him of the days that his parents had taken him to the Amazon rainforests on a crazy whim two years ago. It was oddly comforting, for some reason. He caught flashes of tropical flora that he had never seen before in his mind, before a loud sound rattled him from his reverie.

Blaise strolled in, rather casually, and was surprised to see his friend jump.

"Henry, Henry... why so twitchy, today? You're the one with the so-called nerves of steel!"

"Merlin, Blaise, you scared me."

"I've done this loads before, what's so different about today?"

Henry looked at his friend in bewilderment, "It's so odd..."

"What's so odd?" Blaise gave his friend another befuddled look.

"_Muffiato._" Henry intoned while waving his wand.

Blaise exclaimed, "Are you bonkers? We are alone; we've warded our dorms against anyone else entering, got bloody eavesdrop charms on the door..."

"No." Henry said, "I got a letter from my father."

"Don't tell me he's gotten to a new level of paranoia!" Blaise groaned.

"He wants to know about Quirrell. Everything!" Henry exclaimed, while Blaise made himself comfortable on his friend's four-poster bed, "Plus, the Governors' assessment of Hogwarts will be in a week or two!"

"Well, that's news," Blaise said, "But that shouldn't scare the hell out of you... especially during our first Voldie-free no-DADA period!"

"I am not crazy!" Henry groaned.

"Well, now I beg to differ..." Blaise gave his friend an odd look.

"Okay, so I was meditating, and somehow the temperature around me changed!"

"Changed?" Blaise looked baffled.

"Yeah," Henry nodded, "And then, I saw some plants and grass that was so not from any part of Britain."

"And?" Blaise pressed on.

"You came in." Henry deadpanned.

"Great." Blaise looked crestfallen, "Sorry for interrupting with your weird out-of-this-world experience."

Henry laughed at Blaise's sarcastic statement, determined to cling onto normalcy.

* * *

Harry sat at one of the lab benches, the sleeves of his green shirt rolled up, and his hair gathered into a short ponytail. He held the Philosopher's Stone with one hand, and a fifty-millilitre glass Erlenmeyer's flask in the other. He gently set the glassware on a clear hard plastic tray on the bench, and turned his attention to the red stone. The Stone had many smooth flat sides, and Harry liked the feel of the cool marble-like texture of the rock. After spending a few minutes just staring at the Stone, he got up, and moved the Stone, the tray and the flask inside a bio-cabinet facing the bench he had been sitting at.

The bio-cabinet was designed to keep conditions sterile. Harry put on a pair of gloves, and reached for the crimson Philosopher's Stone. With a deft tipping motion, like decanting a liquid, the Philosopher's Stone released a stream of silvery viscous fluid that was rather reminiscent of Unicorn blood into the flask. When he had about thirty millilitres, he stopped and placed the Stone back on the plastic tray. He then turned around, and opened the door of the incubator beside him. He pulled out several six-well plates with cover-slips covered with different types of adherent cells, both from magical and non-magical donors – Harry was completely surprised that Forest had brought so much biological material with him from his old lab.

They were all healthy, normal specimens.

Once the plates were safe in the cabinet, he removed the lids, and aspirated out all the fluid with the vacuum that was attached to the wall of the cabinet. With care, he then added various cell media that he had already had sitting out and the Elixir into specifically marked wells with glass pipettes and a pipetting gun. Once done, he placed the plates back in the incubator, and summoned his wand. He performed a simple timer spell set for four hours, and cleaned up the mess from the work area, the last step wiping the surface with ethanol.

"Done?" Forest's voice asked from a few benches away.

Harry nodded, "Yup, we've just got to wait a few hours now. How are you doing?"

Forest groaned, indicating to Harry the pile of scribbled parchment slathered with Arithmancy equations and runic writing, "Could be better. Hopefully, this time around, it won't take two bloody years."

Harry noted with amusement that the white board on the far wall was completely covered in hurried but neat writing. Hadrian was sitting next to his dad, laboriously and quietly practicing his writing with a Muggle pencil.

"Ah, my three favourite workaholics!" Tonks' cheery voice filled the lab.

"Auntie Tonks!" Hadrian yelled, happy for a distraction from work.

Forest winced at her tone of voice while Tonks smiled at the little boy.

"Don't you have work?" Forest looked despairingly at Tonks as she waved her wand at the mess of parchment in front of Forest into a neat stack, while almost tripping and knocking over the contents of a copper cauldron beside her, "Careful there, that brew actually belongs to Remus."

"Nope!" Tonks exclaimed happily, "Today, you are going to be creamed, by yours truly." She waved her wand rather precariously again, and Harry, who had moved his way to the middle of the lab had to duck as a sheathed sword flew from outside the lab and landed with a loud thud in front of Forest.

Hadrian looked curiously at his father's blade.

Forest sighed loudly as he pulled out a grey handled sword with a bright red pommel stone. The steel of the blade shone brightly.

"Alright, you asked for it!" Forest followed the metamorphagus out of the room, gripping his sword with his left hand with Hadrian tailing behind him.

Tonks grinned inanely, "I hold you up to your promises."

* * *

After the usual bore of a History of Magic class, the Slytherins and Ravenclaws found themselves by the Great Lake, sitting on or near the enormous roots of their favourite currently barren tree, whose fallen leaves littered the ground. This gathering had became a weekly tradition for the Ravens and the Snakes, with Daphne claiming that fresh air was the perfect therapy for Binns' horrid monotonous droning which went on and on until the saviour, the bell, rang.

Tracey was watching the Giant Squid flop its tentacles lazily through the clear waters with some amusement, while Su and Padma had a chessboard set up between them on the grass. The chilly November air had already prompted a few individuals to break out their scarves and hats, and warming charms were utilized by most. Anthony was absorbed in a copy of one of the latest texts on Animagi, with the cover charmed to resemble their first year History text, figuring that no one would willingly touch that, ever.

"This is the life..." Terry, who was lounging rather blissfully near the trunk of the tree, said to no one in particular, "After all that miserable droning..."

"Soon, very soon," Anthony smiled dreamily while pausing from his reading, "We will hopefully be Binn-less."

"Hang on a sec," Henry stood up from his place in the grass and looked around for potential eavesdroppers, "_Muffiato!"_

"Downside, no additional period to catch up on work," Hermione sighed.

Tracey grinned, "Hermione! You mean get miles ahead in your readings! It's usually the guys who are usually scrambling!"

"Hey!" Henry looked insulted, as did the Ravenclaw trio.

"Upside, no memorizing boring crap," Blaise exclaimed happily, ignoring the teasing.

"It's nice that we don't have the old DADA with Professor Possessed," Daphne added, "I mean, we can all breathe a little easier with that ghastly thing out of the way."

"You know what," Henry interrupted, "I am going to spill the beans to my dad."

"Seriously?" Su replied, with a little surprise in her tone while her knight was taking particular glee in smashing Padma's white pawn.

"I think it's better for us if he knows and I am sure he will really find some discrete way to put the wind up on Dumbledore," Henry explained, "And I think it can't hurt. I will send the letter next time when Valkyrie comes by. And, by the way, Padma, you are screwed." The short-haired boy took a quick glance at the chessboard.

Su grinned evilly, while Padma wore a comical constipated look of concentration, determined to salvage the game. Proving Henry wrong would just be another bonus.

"Valkyrie?" Anthony asked, his fingers playing with the grass at his feet.

"My dad's falcon... her messages cannot be intercepted." Henry replied back.

"Yeah, that's how we've been sending our messages," Daphne spoke up, "Your dad's falcon comes by usually several times a week."

"Do you think Dumbledore thinks it's funny that everyone is sending messages by falcon these days?" Tracey had a thought, "I mean..."

"It's common among the oldest of pure-blooded families." Terry explained, "My mother has one. She's been sending messages via Hawkins every week."

"Besides, Dumbledore shouldn't be sticking his nose in the mail, anyways," it was Hermione who spoke this time, "It is illegal."

"Hermione, Hermione..." Henry grinned widely, "How many bloody laws do you think we've broken this year already? And do you honestly think, with all the shit that's happened since September that our Headmaster's going to play fair?"

"So, how's the Animagi coming along?" Hermione was determined to change the subject, realizing that her point was indeed nullified.

"Nada," Anthony looked dejected, "I mean, there's all these sure-fire ways that the books claim, but we've tried quite a bit of them over the past two weeks. Remember all those exercises that we had you guys do last weekend?"

Hermione sighed, "All of them were really... let's put it this way – weird."

"And it was very anticlimactic," Tracey added, "We were expecting one of us to suddenly transform into something, while trying to find our inner animal – or whatever."

"Yeah," Henry sighed glumly, "I want to be an Animagus so bad! My mother can transform at will into a squirrel, and she can scurry around and climb trees. I was never able to outrun her, ever. I still can't, as a matter of fact."

Blaise chuckled at a certain bygone memory involving himself and Henry as toddlers and a delicious steaming pie set out to cool the old-fashioned way. Needless to say, they had been caught running with their booty seconds later by a grey blur who had then transformed into Henry's mother. He had almost pissed himself in shock, while Henry almost dropped the spiced apple crumble pie. His mind then fixated itself on what his opinion should've been the eighth wonder of the world – Henry's mother's pie-making abilities.

Padma brightened, "But we will keep going, right? We didn't go into this expecting to turn into animals the next week or something."

"Checkmate," Su grinned at her friend, who groaned at the board as Su's army was ready to close in on her hapless king.

Padma sighed in resignation.

"Yeah, we will." Anthony confirmed, "Some lot we are if we gave up after a month!"

"By the way, are you guys going to the Quidditch match on Saturday?" Terry asked, turning the conversation away from more serious waters.

Blaise exclaimed, "Hell yeah! Snakes versus Gryffs! What's not to like?"

The conversation quickly became Quidditch oriented, and minutes later, the group headed for dinner after several people complained of hunger.

* * *

Tonks and Forest clashed blades, and parried, thrust and blocked each other with practiced blows, while Remus, Harry and Hadrian looked on. The two of them had spent a long time circling warily around each other, looking for an appropriate opening, before Tonks made the initial assault. Hadrian's cheers ended up being as a source of amusement for both Harry and Remus, as the little boy kept switching allegiances every few seconds.

"Daddy! You go and get her!" Hadrian cheered, "Auntie Tonks! Whack'im hard!"

Harry noticed that as time went on, Forest was becoming more and more tired, while Tonks seemed to have hidden reserves of energy stored within her. With a clever flick of her wrist, Tonks sent Forest's sword spinning out of his hand and the dark-haired man was clutching his right arm in agony.

She smiled widely, while Forest groaned, "You've bested me."

"Got to work on your endurance," Tonks lectured, "Otherwise, I think, your technique is excellent. Do you want me to heal that?" She looked concernedly at Forest's arm.

Forest shook his head and examined his injury, "It's just badly bruised. I will let it heal naturally as a reminder to not sit around all day with dusty old parchments, and as a memento of crossing blades with you, Dora. I am left-handed, anyways. It will be gone within a week."

"Aw, I am so touched," Tonks said humorously.

Hadrian ran up to his dad and was pulling at his grey trousers. Forest looked at him in amusement, "Hadrian, my little double-crosser! I heard you cheering for the other side!"

Hadrian grinned and giggled, "Auntie Tonks gave me chocolate this morning."

"Hadrian! That was supposed to be a secret between me and you!" Tonks admonished the boy playfully.

"Wait, so you learned how to fight with both hands?" Harry looked surprised at Forest who was going to say something to Tonks regarding bribes.

Tonks answered, "Generally, it's a good idea to learn to fight with both hands. I'm surprised Ivan hasn't insisted on you doing so, yet."

"Yeah," Forest agreed, "I mean, I can still give Tonks another good fight with my dominant hand, but I am more familiar with right-handed swordsmanship, since everyone except for the odd person like me favours their right."

"Oy, Remus!" Tonks suddenly called out to the quiet werewolf who was sitting on his conjured chair, "Have a go with Harry here! Come on, Remy!"

Remus winced at Tonks' liberal nickname usage while the pink-haired woman ran out of the room to get Remus' sword from his room. Their little group had retrieved many of Remus' things the day after the Dumbledore Diversion, although Harry, Tonks and Forest insisted that Remus leave his wardrobe behind, and buy new clothes.

"Shouldn't you put an anti-summoning charm or something on your blade, Forest?" Harry wondered, while Forest was trying to cajole his son into finishing his writing from earlier.

The man summoned his wand and muttered a few choice incantations over his weapon which glowed slightly when the charms took hold, "I've only used it for recreational fights, so there was never any need." Forest replied back, "But, in light of our recent situation..."

"With Dumbledore being a nuisance and body-less Dark Lords..." Remus frowned slightly, "I wonder what he's up to, anyways."

"The Supreme Mugwump or our dark friend with the disembodied soul?" Forest and Harry turned around to look at Remus.

"You know what my theory is – on what happened that fateful night?" Remus began to say, but was interrupted by Tonks, who thrust Remus' sword in his lap. Tonks dragged a reluctant Harry up to the centre of the room, and pulled _Despair_ out of its scabbard, which had been resting on the rosewood table beside Remus, and held it out to Harry.

He took it. Remus then pulled out his own sword and strode over to face his student. The two gazed at each other, Harry in a light stance which Ivan preferred, while Remus took the time to assess his situation.

Tonks impatiently called out, "Fight already!"

"Yeah, get on with it!" Hadrian hollered.

Teacher and student bowed to each other, and slowly and cautiously circled around each other, like lionesses stalking their prey. Harry made his move with practiced speed, to be met head on by Remus' quick blade work. Remus was a strong dueler, his instincts and endurance honed by his wolfish side, while Harry merely had a few weeks of merciless experience, courtesy of Ivan. The two seemed to dance throughout the room, while Forest's and Tonks' duel was more contained, trading equal blows. In retrospect, Harry was glad for Ivan's not-holding-anything-back tutelage, as Remus had tried some rather cunning twists and he was able to evade and counter them from previous experiences.

Harry was also feeling pretty sore both mentally and physically, since he had dueled with Ivan at first light earlier in the day, and spent his afternoon in the laboratory, working on the art of fabricating antivenoms for unknown poisons, as well as to set up some Philosopher Stone experiments. His arms were feeling more and more leaden with each blow traded, while in contrast, Remus had spent the day reading and teaching Hadrian some arithmetic was very well rested.

_Clang!_

Harry's sword flew out of his hand when Remus landed a particularly hard hit on _Despair_.

"Sorry Remus, my arms are really tired," Harry groaned, massaging his agonized muscles.

Remus smiled, "No worries. I know you were busy all day, and Ivan's blade probably did a number on you too."

"I am impressed, Harry." Tonks exclaimed, "I fought with Remy a few days ago-"

Remus sighed at the nickname, but Tonks continued onwards.

"And, he's no pushover." Tonks continued, "I wonder how scary of a swordsman you'll be when you reach our age!"

"Can we have food, now? Me, Hadrian," the blond boy pointed to himself and said loudly, "Is hungry!"

"Why are all of you guys looking at me?" Harry looked bewildered when Forest, Tonks, Remus and Hadrian's eyes fell on him. "If you guys think that I am in any shape to cook now..."

"Sorry Harry, it's just that your cooking is light-years away from everyone else's." Forest grinned, "I mean, Tonks here almost burnt the flat down with a bloody salad."

He ignored Tonks' glare of death.

"So, anyways," Remus said rather jovially, "Let's go out – losers' treat!"

"Now that's the best idea I've heard all day!" Tonks agreed.

Forest and Harry shared a look and both sighed while Hadrian was running amok, eager to get some sustenance.

The lot ended up going to Forest's favourite Chinese restaurant in Muggle London – Forest's treat – and after gorging themselves on crispy skinned Peking duck in crepes with raw veggies, steamed tilapia in soy sauce, and other delicacies, and during a harmless discussion on Muggle literature, Harry felt his wand burn against his skin.

He winced, drawing the attention of everyone at the table to him.

"That'd be the warning for the four hour Timer spell." Harry said, "I will go on ahead. Take your time, guys!"

Forest nodded, "We will be done soon. Hang on a sec, I need to pay."

Harry grabbed his dark trench coat, his preferred muggle-styled outer wear, just as Forest made his way to the cashier and draped it over his dark-blue muggle shirt. He walked past the round dining tables draped in red tablecloths, and the golden Chinese characters and mystical animals that adorned the walls.

He walked out into the cold London night, burying his hands deep in the pockets of his coat and cast a warming charm as the bitter cold winds buffeted his exposed face. Harry sighed when he felt the all-too-familiar drips of London rain graze his cheek.

As he turned into the local alleyway, and was about to Apparate behind the dustbins, he heard a harsh voice behind him.

"Hand me your money!"

Harry groaned inwardly and slowly turned around, while using his magic sense to observe the heavily dressed man, who had covered his face with a black kerchief. He had a gun in his hand, which Harry discerned was all too real. His Legilimency probe revealed that the man was out for money, but the intent to kill wasn't there. He noted the man's name, and address, as well – just in case.

_Fucking hell!_ _Delays... delays..._

"I don't have any money." Harry said, deciding it was best to let the thug make the first move. And yes, he didn't have any money on him – magical or pounds.

"Fuckin' liar, you'll get it coming to you now." The man fired his first shot, low.

Harry slowed down the bullet with his magic, and picked it up simply. The man's eyes widened in astonishment but started to aim with his firearm again. However, Harry was too quick for him. He knocked out the would-be-mugger with a non-verbal, wandless _Stupefy_. He picked up the mugger's gun, and stuffed it in his pocket and as a final touch, summoned his wand and tattooed the word 'douche' and a shockingly pink peony on the man's face. He levitated the man behind several nasty garbage cans, out of sight of pedestrians and vanished the spent bullet.

He immediately disapparated from the alleyway, and in front of the building of his flat, his heart still pumping fast from the unpleasant encounter.

When he arrived back at his flat, and opened the door with a swish of his wand, Zaliss greeted him.

_;. Hello, master – your heart rate is pretty elevated. .;_

_;. I know, Zaliss, I bumped into a Muggle mugger. You know that sort?" _

_;. Master, master... always attracting trouble... no doubt about that. .;_

Zaliss followed Harry into the laboratory, and Harry took off his trench coat, draping it carelessly on one of the lab stools, before attending to the cell cultures he had incubated earlier. He aspirated the wells, and with a micropipettor, he fixed the cells with a diluted volume of paraformaldehyde with the great snake looking on interestedly. As he was putting the plates on the shaker and setting himself another Timer spell for twenty minutes, he heard Forest's exclamation.

"Where did this bloody gun come from?"

Harry turned around to see Forest looking at the weapon that had fallen from his coat pocket.

"Something I brought on the way home?" Harry replied back.

Forest looked at Harry suspiciously, "Really?"

"Actually, no, some idiot tried to mug me." Harry said with a voice devoid of expression.

Zaliss hissed from his coiled up position next to the warm bio-cabinet.

"Seriously?" Forest looked shocked, "What happened?"

"I let him get a shot after I told him I had no money, stopped the bullet, Stupefied the bastard and gave him some nice tattoos. I also know where he lives, what he does, and his name."

Forest's eyebrow rose at the word tattoos.

Harry didn't elaborate.

"So, what are we going to do with the gun?" Forest sighed, "I haven't seen one in a long time." The man leaned down to pick up the pistol, "The US magic law enforcement folk know how to use guns, contrary to what Tonks has told me about gun usage in Great Britain among Magicals."

"I suppose it will come in useful sometime." Harry mused, "Just keep it out of reach so Hadrian can't get at it, and we should be good. And... I am fine by the way, thanks for asking."

"I gathered." Forest grinned, "You are a mugger's worst nightmare – jeez!"

Harry laughed.

"You fixed them, eh?" Forest looked down at the shaker.

"Yeah," Harry replied back, "I will wash them out and put in the antibodies overnight and hopefully they will hybridize with the appropriate proteins, anyhow. If everything works out fine tomorrow, we should be able to pick up some telomerase from these cells with your expensive toys."

"Well, according to Perenelle's paper," Forest said thoughtfully, "But then again, due to Nicolas' anger over the whole fiasco, what she's written is probably true. In fact, we need to verify these results anyways... which is why we are doing this. Anyhow, we will get some nice images out of those cells. And I've fixed some germ-line cells too earlier."

"Ah, since they have telomerase activity. We can test our new telomerase antibodies and see if they are actually picking up the telomerase complexes." Harry nodded, understanding his mentor's reasoning, "And we better get cracking on how to make our own Stone, before we start thinking about any grand plans, especially if we want to one-up on Flamel and Dumbledore."

Forest sighed, "I am afraid, it's going to be the rate-determining step of our plans. I will see if I can get Remus to help me out as well." He looked at the clock in the room, "Tomorrow of course."

Harry shrugged, "It's a long term project and in the later stages, we will become more and more visible in the eyes of public if all goes according to plan."

Forest smiled, "Well, we will just have to show the world and Dumbledore and Flamel what we are made up of. We will rock the scientific community, Muggle or Magical by storm!"

"Damn, right!" Harry grinned back, starting to take the plates off the shaker in anticipation of the next steps.

* * *

**A/N: **Biology corner!

Harry and Forest are making fluorescent slides for microscopy to look for telomerase (that protein/RNA – ribonucleotide (similar to DNA but not quite) complex that enlongates chromosomes). So what they are doing is that they are taking various cell lines, and putting Elixir in the media (food for cells) and seeing if they make telomerase since most somatic cells do not express much of this.

After several hours, they kill or 'fix' the cells with paraformaldehyde. Afterwards, one would block the cells with something like Bovine serum since cells are filled with incredibly sticky guck to help eliminate non-specific staining and permeabilize (aka poke holes in) the cell membranes with a detergent so the stains can get through. Normally in immunofluorescence (immuno refers to the antibody), primary antibodies are then used to attach to a protein of interest and then a secondary antibody is used to attach to the first antibody. This second antibody contains a fluorophore which fluoresce when hit with a specific wavelength of light usually visible light – which is why you ought to keep your slides in the dark to prevent bleaching. Most scopes can do up to four colours, and some even five or more depending on the laser set-up.

This technique is useful for locating where a protein of interest is.

There are also other options such as fluorescent stains, fluorophore conjugated primary antibodies.

Anyways, review?


	22. XXII - Pact

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **The usual non-witty disclaimer: Don't own, don't profit – just for fun :D

* * *

**Chapter XXII – Pact**

_Grey – B. writing here. Just dropping a quick note to say that W. has finally sent that letter to his father and has told all about you-know-who and Quirrell. W. and I omitted the details regarding the Stone for the time being as you've suggested. Other than that, it's been quiet around here after Quirrell's demise with the usual skiving off to the Kitchens and attending classes. Hope you lot are accomplishing a heck more than we are,_

_B._

* * *

Daphne Greengrass walked along the fourth floor, pausing now and then to look at the numerals assigned to each room. She was forced to examine each entrance as for some bizarre reason; the numbering did not seem to be in order for the rooms on this particular floor. It was annoying but she was also relieved that she had narrowly avoided Peeves on the way up when she heard the telltale signs of swearing and the Poltergeist's trademark cackle echo from near the once-forbidden third floor corridor which had prompted her to choose another path.

Finally, she came across a set of panelled hardwood double doors at a corner and she smiled when she discovered that they led to the correct room. A large carving of an old-fashioned balance beam scale spanned both doors. She pushed one of the door open, to find one of the dustiest, foul smelling rooms that she had ever been in. She coughed, before someone cast a Bubble-head charm for her, immersing her with a supply of clean sweet air. She turned around to see her Charms professor with Hannah, Blaise, Neville and Henry already decked out in their own bubble-heads.

She smiled at the comical sight in front of her.

"Hey, Daph – hope it didn't take you long to find this place." Henry grinned cheekily, "I swear the fourth floor rooms keep switching room numbers."

Neville gave her a wink and wrinkled his nose humorously under his shimmering bubble, "Smells like roses, doesn't it?"

"We better get to work." Filius interrupted the greetings between his First Years - his voice was a little muffled by his own bubble of air, "This is the former Economics classroom. No one's been here in decades since it was cancelled by Albus. Never understood why he did it." The short professor shook his head. "It's the largest unused classroom we've got."

Their professor began waving his wand in enormous and complex sweeping motions, causing the wooden desks and chairs to stack themselves neatly along the sides of the room. Henry and Neville had started Scourgifying the entire area, starting from the front, while Blaise decided to begin organizing the dusty old tomes and parchments that sat abandoned at the former Economics Professor's table at the front and the shelf nearby, determining what to bin and what to keep.

"I guess we should tackle the draperies," Hannah suggested to her Slytherin friend. Daphne shook her head at Blaise, noting that he had once again, picked the job with the least manual labour.

"Blech," Daphne made a face as the two girls walked closer towards the battered, frayed and bleached curtains that hung at the domed front of the room. She raised her wand to open the curtains, but was stopped by the excited squeak of their Charms professor.

"Ms. Greengrass, don't open those curtains! I think it's a better idea to vanish them. It's teeming with spiders, bugs and doxies."

"Doxies?" Hannah looked bemusedly at the curtains, "Oh bollocks." She frowned when she remembered discovering a Doxy infestation back at her house in the basement, and their venomous teeth was something that she had no wish to encounter, again.

Professor Flitwick pointed his wand at the curtains, and Daphne had just begun to realize that the supposedly inert pieces of cloth were actually teeming with minute movements of creepy crawlies that were making her stomach feel a tad queasy. Fortunately, Filius removed the curtain of nightmares with a single non-verbal wave of his wand. Another flick of his wand later and the grime that had once covered the windows were gone. Daphne and Hannah found themselves oohing and ahing at a beautiful set of animated stained glass windows. There were five windows that looked out onto the grounds of the castle in the direction of the Lake and the afternoon light flooding into the room made all the difference in the world to the once inhospitable room.

"Ah, the story of King Arthur and Merlin," Filius smiled at his amazed students, "This is one of the more splendid stained glass windows that Hogwarts has to offer. I've almost forgotten about these."

It took an hour before the entire room was swept clean, and Professor Flitwick told Blaise that he could keep anything from the pile of stuff he had sorted through considering that Economics was no longer a course offered at Hogwarts. The dark haired boy had shrunk several books and papers and stuffed them into his robe pockets when his Professor was looking the other way. The lot were finally able to remove the Bubble-heads that supplied them with fresh air without going into spasms of coughing. Hannah and Daphne were able to conjure up another set of curtains to replace the motley chewed up ones from earlier, while Filius charmed the new cloth to a rich shade of blue and added twinkling stars that rearranged themselves to form different constellations periodically as well as adding appropriate anti-infestation charms.

"There's still an hour left until Dueling Club starts." Flitwick quickly glanced at the still-working clock at the b ack of the room, above the doors, "Why don 't we have a quick bite beforehand?"

"Excellent idea, Professor Flitwick!" Blaise grinned jovially at his Professor's suggestion just as Henry's own stomach let out a loud growl.

Hannah, Daphne and Neville shared a certain look that broke into sniggers as the group exited the classroom.

* * *

"Wow, that is amazing," Remus remarked to both Harry and Forest at the computer that was located at the back of the laboratory. Several images of the various cells that Harry had killed off and preserved with four-percent paraformaldehyde were present on the screen. The control somatic, or body cells showed very limited bits of green in the cytoplasm, or fluid interior of the cell, while the cells induced with the Elixir showed increased expression of green. A few sex cells, that Forest himself had preserved also showed levels of green similar to the induced cells. The nuclei, or the part that contains the DNA of the cells was stained blue, and the membrane or exterior of the cell was stained pink. If Forest took away the green, the cells would look like sunny-side-up fried eggs, with the blue as the yolk, and the pink as the egg whites. "So, what does the green mean again?" Remus asked.

"It means that Perenelle was right!" Harry exclaimed, while Forest said, "Green represents the telomerase complexes that are present within the cell. As I explained earlier, Remus, telomerase is the thing that extends your chromosome lengths after cell division, due to the process of DNA replication causes your DNA to become shorter with each replication. After a certain amount of divisions, the process itself will start damaging your important DNA needed for regular functioning."

"Wait, what?" Remus was a little confused, "We have non-important DNA too?"

"Yup, but in this case, the ends of our chromosomes are very important. Basically, at both ends, the chromosomes consist of repeated segments of DNA called telomeres which serve as buffer –" Forest started explaining, but Remus cut him off.

"Ah, so you are saying that we have repeated non-important DNA segments that get shortened with each cell division and if a cell divides after a certain point, the telomeres will be eroded, and our important DNA gets eaten away?"

"Yup," Harry agreed.

"Okay," Remus started again, "So cells that didn't get the Elixir are those guys with minimal green, and they don't have much telomerase, while the cells that have more green got the Elixir. Got it! But wait, what was the point of doing this for our reproductive cells?" Remus pointed to another picture.

"Oh, we know that those cells have higher levels of telomerase activity," Forest said.

Harry added, "It's to make sure that our 'stain' or antibody that we used to target telomerase is actually doing what it's supposed to do."

"Yeah, like those blasted bio-tech companies you buy your stuff from have all these wonderful claims that their products work, but you've got to try them out for yourself," Forest fumed, "I honestly don't know how many scathing complaints I've written to them."

"Antibody? Geez, why is this so complicated?" Remus groaned.

Forest explained patiently, "Well, your body makes antibodies to target things that aren't part of you so they can get rid of germs and stuff, so knowing this, what we scientists have done is to find animals that have don't have the stuff that we are interested in. They are basically recognition molecules and stick to their targets."

"In this case, it was the goat." Harry interrupted.

"But goats have telomerase!" Remus was even more confused.

"Yeah, but it's different from ours." Forest countered, "So we inject some of our telomerase molecules into the goat, the goat's body produced the antibodies, and we collect them. Then, these antibodies can target the telomerase in our experimental cells!"

"Okay, so now we have this verification that cells make telomerase under the effects of the Elixir." Remus said, "What's next?"

"Well..." Harry began to say, but Forest cut in, "I am trying to get some genetically altered cancerous mice from the Muggle side of things. It's going to be bloody expensive – at least several hundred thousand pounds – but it will prove better than what Perenelle did in her paper."

"So, we basically verify what Perenelle has done? Then what? Publish? You do realize Nicolas is going to be hot on our tails!" Remus exclaimed, "And bloody hell, that's expensive!"

Harry smiled, "The Philosopher's Stone can pay for its own research!"

"Indeed," Remus nodded.

"Don't worry about the money." Forest waved Remus' concern away, "I am willing to use my own funds, and the Philosopher's Stone can generate some gold too. And that's why we are trying to create the Stone, Remus. If we can do it, they have no reason to suspect that we took the original Stone, for actually, any day now; someone else may stumble across the formula due to the hotness of the field. And, Harry, you should realize that a Philosopher's Stone can't last forever – you should have noticed that every time you decant Elixir, it shrinks. Law of Conservation of Mass, Harry... although, when you turn things into gold, it doesn't really shrink... leads me to think that the Stone has catalytic properties, and allow for a special reaction pathway to take place that wouldn't otherwise be possible."

Harry thought back to two days ago. "You are right! I remember, I got the Elixir from the Stone, and I did notice it was slightly smaller! And that means we can't dawdle either, we can't afford to have someone beat us there."

"I agree." Forest sighed, "I think, it would be a miracle if we can have something by New Year's."

Remus then interrupted with his own original thought, "Why don't you guys improve on the design of the Stone? Why not turn metals into platinum instead of gold? That stuff's more valuable these days. Plus, that way, you can get a patent for your work too since I am pretty sure old Nic's got one for his Philosopher's Stone."

Forest grinned, "One thing at a time, Remus. Let's figure out how to get to make the basic Stone first, before doing 'improvements'. And yes, you've got a point regarding the patent so we will have to do something to tweak ours a bit. In fact, it's an excellent idea if we never ever bring up Flamel's Stone in public, ever."

"You know what I wonder?" Harry grinned after a certain thought, "What did Perenelle think of what happened after she published her paper? I am pretty sure a witch that brilliant would have known the repercussions and her husband's opinion on the matter."

Forest smiled rather grimly as he was trying to back-up his images and results on another hard drive, "Well, I guess we will find out... sooner or later... since we are doomed on a collision course with the Flamels... and Dumbledore... the day you nicked the Stone... Harry, I did say she was a bit mad."

"Well," Harry noted with dry amusement, "'I've already collided once with Dumbledore when I was a helpless toddler, but we will make the second encounter, spectacular."

* * *

Blaise, Hannah, Neville, Daphne and Henry found themselves sitting in Flitwick's office on conjured chairs. Their professor had banished the stacks of parchments and various other objects from his once cluttered desk with the exception of some long slender candles and had gone back into his quarters to fetch some food which was hidden from view by a large piece of navy blue cloth. Hannah noted the bookshelves that covered almost all the wall space, with a few gaps here and there for pieces of art, both magical and Muggle.

"Wow, this is the first time I've been in a professor's office!" Daphne exclaimed.

Henry grinned, "That's because you are a goody-goody, Daphne."

"Well, if you were a little more careful with your little visit Kitchens a few days ago after curfew... or scrapped that visit altogether... like I did." Blaise chuckled, "You wouldn't have had the detention!"

Henry laughed, "I don't know what was funnier, Professor McGonagall's expression when she saw me – a first year knowing how to get to the Kitchens – or my own when I saw her indulging in some really lovely German chocolate cake! She let me have some cake, and gave me detention too! Frankly, I think I walked right into that one! Unavoidable, absolutely unavoidable."

"Well, you can't have your cake and eat it too!" Hannah teased, while hiccupping in laughter, "Wow, Professor McGonagall and chocolate cake! Who would have thought?"

"Another Muggle saying?" Neville asked.

"Yup, means you can't have the best of both worlds!" Hannah grinned.

Blaise smiled widely, "Serves you right for not bringing any back too!"

"Do you guys ever not talk about food?" Daphne gave her two fellow Slytherins an exasperated look.

They merely returned back an innocent look, which had Daphne pantomimed her feelings by gently banging her forehead against Flitwick's desk.

"Ah, Minerva told me about that one!"

All five heads whipped around to see their Charms Professor levitating a large tray full of tea-time goodies and a freshly brewed pot of tea that was still issuing steam. He set the necessary tea items gently down on his desk before climbing on his own comfortable chair.

"Which one?" Henry asked their tiny Charms Professor.

"Her shock when a certain little Slytherin discovered her midnight indulgences," Flitwick chuckled, "Sneaky – gave her quite a turn. She hasn't been walked in upon since those Marauders were still around. Now, for the afternoon show!"

Neville was about to ask who the Marauders were when their Professor quirked his wand, and the little cupcakes, tarts and other finger food began to do a little jig to imaginary music. They chuckled when Flitwick varied the styles of dancing and clapped when the Master finally relinquished his magic on the treats.

"Help yourself!" Professor Flitwick helped himself to a jam tart in easy reach.

Henry bit into a cupcake, mindful of the colourful wrapper, "Merlin, Professor, did you make these yourself?"

"Of course!" Flitwick beamed, "Minerva's quite partial to my cake too. But don't tell her I said that."

"It's delicious!" Hannah grinned.

"Of course not," Blaise replied back to their Professor's statement.

"So who were the Marauders?" Neville asked.

Filius Flitwick sighed with a little wistful expression, "Ah, they were some of the greatest pranksters and hooligans that Hogwarts have ever seen. They were brilliant. They were charismatic. It's been a decade since they've been in school..."

"They were around when my dad was in school!" Hannah exclaimed, doing a little mental math.

"And my parents..." Neville sighed.

"Ah, your father was one of my favourite students, a Ravenclaw, as you know Ms. Abbott – talented in Charms, although from what I heard from Professor Hayward – the DADA professor back then – devious with curses. What's he doing now?" Filius found memories of a skinny brown-haired boy, with a Prefect badge in the boy's later years at Hogwarts in his mind, "And Neville, your parents were some of the kindest people I've ever had the fortune to meet. It's a great shame..." The professor's voice trailed off.

"Ah, my dad -," Hannah smiled happily, her eyes brightened at Flitwick's mention of her father, "Curse-breaker by trade, but works for the Ministry. Always got loads of funny stories to tell, and very absent-minded."

Neville sighed, his mind visiting the last visit to St. Mungo's Spell Damage ward.

"Do me next! Do me next!" Henry exclaimed excitedly.

"Ah. Mr. Winters," Flitwick was forced to grin, "Edward was a scamp of a Slytherin through and through. Unlike the Gryffindors, the quiet and shrewd type. Enjoyed the after-hours nip into the Kitchens, and couldn't keep his fingers off my cupcakes once he discovered them during my office hours. Amazing the number of ways he tried to get some. Married a Gryffindor too! Don't know how he managed to steal that poor girl's heart! Minerva almost had a heart-attack when the marriage announcement appeared in the Daily Prophet years later after Edward left Hogwarts."

Henry could barely contain his glee and almost fell out of the chair. In his own humble opinion, his mother was just as sly and cunning as his father, and was definitely able to give his old dad a run for his money.

Soon, it was time for Duelling Club to start, and Flitwick banished the resultant mess from the surface of his wooden desk, and the group of them made their way back to the fourth floor, to the newly cleaned out Economics Classroom. Several of their friends and other First Years were already waiting beside the wooden doors, as Professor Flitwick had locked them earlier. Blaise sighed when he saw Draco and Ronald standing as far away from each other as possible within the small area in front of the doors and nudged Neville who gave him a sympathetic nod.

The diminutive Charms professor gave his wand a simple wave, and the double doors swung open. With a gesture, he led them all in. He gave another flick of his wand, and the room's candles were illuminated, while the wooden floors became covered with cushiony material which resembled Muggle mats used for gymnastics.

Draco was heard saying, "Dueling – I can outduel anyone of you – any day!"

Henry winced at his tone, while the others pretended the arrogant prat did not exist.

When most his First Years were sitting quietly on the mats, Flitwick, who had climbed up the desk at the front, with Blaise and Hannah standing beside him.

"Welcome, to Dueling Club. Although, I am your Charms Professor, I was back in the day, a Duelling Master. I am quite pleased with most of your progress this year, at Hogwarts, so I have decided to start a little club for people in your year. These colleagues of yours here," Flitwick gestured to Blaise and Hannah in turn, "Will be in charge of running the club. Duelling is a very dangerous art, and therefore, you must listen to instructions carefully."

"Now, I want you lot in pairs." Blaise began to say, and the roomful of people began shifting closer to their friends and Housemates.

"Each member of the pair must belong to different Houses!" Hannah announced loudly, to a few groans in the class, "We will work with different partners every session!"

Hermione paired up with Henry, Neville teamed up with Daphne, Terry paired up with Tracey, and so on and so forth. Eventually, Draco and Ronald were left standing by themselves, seeing that everyone in the other Houses wanted to stay away from that pair.

Blaise looked at them with exasperation, "Come on you..." He barely swallowed Snape's favourite word down his throat – dunderheads -, "get with the program here! Don't have all day!"

Draco and Ronald looked at each other with long-suffering expressions while everyone else waited impatiently for the two to get their act together.

"Okay, so the first spell we are going to learn is a basic... but very necessary in the art of duelling." Blaise started the lecture.

Hannah continued, "It's the Disarming Spell, does anyone know what it does?"

"Terry?" Blaise pointed his Ravenclaw friend, who had his hand waving in the air.

"The incantation is Expelliarmus, and what it does if cast successfully is that it will cause the opponent's wand to fly to you."

"Very good, Mr. Boot – five points to Ravenclaw!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed.

"Alright, so," Hannah walked over to the chalkboard at the front of the room. "This is the wand movement." She took a piece of ancient white chalk and drew the diagram on the board before walking back to her fellow leader. "And this is what it should look like. Blaise, face me!"

Blaise stood leisurely in a small stance, his wand gripped in his right hand.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ Hannah incanted and a stream of bright red light flashed from her wand and struck Blaise, whose wand flew from his hand into Hannah's nimbly outstretched hand.

"Excellent, excellent!" Filius praised from his position on the table, "Now, your turn!" The Charms professor pointed to Hermione and Henry, who were standing the closest to the front desk.

The members of their little secret group were able to perform the spell fine, although several of their number pretended to struggle a bit before casting the spell perfectly with Draco muttering darkly that the spell looked so easy when Neville got it on his supposed first try. When it was Ronald and Draco's turn right after Terry and Tracey, Draco pointed his wand towards Ronald and uttered, "_Expelliarmus!_"

The blond was shocked when nothing happened, but undeterred, he tried again – his face a mask of intense concentration. A weak jet of red was released from his wand, and Ronald cheekily ducked out of the way.

"Oy, Malfoy! Can't do it?"

Hannah gently elbowed Blaise and whispered, "Oh, this isn't going to be good," when Draco's pale face flushed in anger at Ronald's barb.

"I'd like to see you try, Weasley," Draco drawled, emphasizing his tone of disgust for Ronald's surname.

Ronald pulled out his wand from his robes and pointed it at his cocky nemesis. "_Expelliarmus!_"

A jet of red light, weaker than Draco's second attempt hit the blond boy but he was able to maintain his grip on the wand before it could sail away.

Blaise immediately stepped in before Draco could issue another insult, "You've got your flick all wrong, see... it's more like this... _Expelliarmus!_"

The blond was totally unprepared for Blaise's sudden spell, and the jet of light that struck him knocked him backwards onto his back, while his fellow Slytherin caught the wand with ease.

"Ah, I think I've got it." Ronald grinned – barely able to contain his laughter at the undignified tumble.

When Draco got his wand back from Blaise, he was furious. Acting purely on his emotions, he cast before anyone could intervene.

"_Expelliarmus – Slugulus Eructo!_" An angry jet of red light from Draco's wand followed by a quick light green flash caused Ronald to stagger back and clutch his stomach in agony, causing the redhead to look very pale, before hacking up a storm of slugs. Draco caught Ronald's wand with ease and a smug smile, while his vengeful brain forgot that a Professor was monitoring the proceedings due to Professor Flitwick's relatively quiet supervision with point giving and allowance of Hannah and Blaise to direct.

"Mr. Malfoy! Why... I never!" Professor Flitwick was furious and surprised that a student would have the audacity to do such a thing under his watch, the suddenness of his ejaculation caused Draco to twitch, "Charming a fellow classmate with the Slug Spewing Charm! Fifteen points from Slytherin and detention – next Monday at seven. Mr. Finnigan, Mr. Thomas, bring Mr. Weasley to the Infirmary."

Several Slytherins glared at their brat prince, seeing that he had managed to lose all the points that Henry, Daphne and Tracey had earned for their success at their attempts at Disarming. Draco looked like a kicked puppy, his face as red as a Weasley's hair. To further compound his humiliation, the words of his father's last furious letter about receiving complaints from his Professors about his misbehaviour and his inability to master his own emotions reverberated in his mind.

The two Gryffindors, Dean and Seamus had carefully helped Ronald up – still puking slugs – and carefully made their way out of the room. Hannah vanished the disgusting slug trail with a flick of her wand instinctively, causing her Charms professor to widen his pupils in astonishment at her use of an upper-year spell.

"Damn." Hannah whispered to Blaise when she noticed their Professor's surprise at her abilities, "Oops."

Blaise sighed back, "One of us was bound to screw up, eventually... We aren't perfect."

* * *

Harry, dressed in his usual wear of charcoal grey shirt and jeans, strode across his living room. He was barefoot and he lingered for a while on the warm and fuzzy zebra patterned carpet that covered the floor at the foot of his couches, and underneath the dark coffee table. Forest and Remus were discussing something at the dining table behind him while enjoying their late breakfast, and Hadrian was playing with a new set of Lego on the coffee table, making up his own stories involving Muggle fire trucks – complete with realistic siren effects that made the two adults sitting at the table wince. Tonks, being the only person in the place with a 'real' job, was out.

He stopped in front of the deceptively simple wooden door that led into the dragon's lair. With a gentle sweep of his arm, he undid the enchantments, locks, wards and etc with a simple click, the door opened, slightly. Harry turned his head around to check if Hadrian was still focused on his own toys, before taking a step onto the smooth rock in front of him.

He shut the door behind him.

Like usual, it was quiet in dragon-land. Harry neatly rolled up his sleeves before venturing deeper into the humid and warm environment. His footfalls were silent and his movements deliberate and careful as he made his way across to the far end of the room.

When he reached the jagged rocks that served as the nest for Rosalind, their recently christened dragon – even though she wasn't a red dragon – he peered through the gaps and saw that she was awake, and merely looked disinterested by her surroundings. Barely a few seconds later, Rosalind gave her wings a few leisurely flaps and she took off, her long barbed tail swinging awkwardly behind her. She noticed the intruder next to her nest and made a nasty hissing sound that resembled a warning in Parseltongue.

Harry gave her the same disinterested look that she had been giving earlier, which seemed to rile up Rosalind further.

She didn't like being ignored.

So she let out what she perceived was a mighty jet of fire, but for experienced fire-mages like Harry and other dragons, it was rather ordinary. Harry reached out to grab the dragon-fire streaming in his direction and started expertly twisting the flames into complex flower-like patterns. The dragon-fire seemed to have a golden coppery tinge, which seemed to be Rosalind's trademark.

Realizing that her intended victim was mocking her, Rosalind stopped.

Harry stopped too, but sent the jet of fire straight back at her, very aware of her fire-proof scales. Rosalind had been unprepared for the unexpected onslaught, and she let out a furious cry of frustration as her own flames hit her.

_;. Vicious, aren't you? .;_ Harry hissed. Tonks had mentioned to him over a week ago about Zaliss' communication with Rosalind, but this was the first time he attempted communication with the she-dragon.

The dragon snorted while a puff of smoke left her nostrils. _;. Human. You speak snake-tongue like Zaliss. Not quite dragon, but enough for me to comprehend. Strange little thing, aren't you? Sending my own fires back at me! Hmph! Almost as bad when little water-boy dunked me! .; _

She flapped higher, the delicate membrane of her wings effortlessly propelling her upwards.

_;. So, you are more than growling dragon, Rosalind..;_

Rosalind looked insulted. _;. Of course! All dragons have a personality and feelings. Where did you think you humans came up with my name? .;_

_;. I thought Tonks named you. .; _Harry admitted.

The copper-scaled dragon made an odd sound, reminiscent of laughter. _;. As if I would let a human name me! I've been projecting my name mentally to everyone who's been in this room for the past week. Only the she-human has been sensitive enough to pick it up! .;_

_;. Or your projections weren't strong enough. .; _

Rosalind hissed. _;. Oh, you are insolent, aren't you? .;_

Harry laughed heartily. _;. Then why don't dragons ever project to their Keepers in captivity? You seem to know a lot about the world, although you've only been in this room. .;_

Rosalind sighed. There was a note of sadness in the harsh tongue she hissed and growled in. _;. How woefully little you humans understand us, dragonfolk? Yet you have enslaved and decimated our species in the past centuries. Dragons learn when they are developing in their eggshells. I've been hiding in my shell for years. Magic is an interesting thing, for when we are in the eggs; we understand the conversations and the world around us, regardless of tongue. We dragons distrust humans, for what have they done to our kind? Killed us as trophies, dragon heartstrings, blood, scales, teeth – what haven't you done? Dragons want nothing to with wizardkind and the ones in captivity go insane with all the stunning and subordination we are subjected to. They force us to mate, when we have no interest in continuing our species in light of our misery. Our first instinct for humans is to kill. Projection, for a dragon, is incredibly taxing. Rosalind, water, food and warmth were the only words in human-speak that I know. I was lucky that the one you call Tonks picked it up at all. Most dragons don't ever bother trying to communicate with humans due to the language barrier, and hatred, but I couldn't bear being called something else for the rest of my life. This is, I believe from what I know, the first time when a dragon and a human have spoken, face to face..;_

_;. Then why don't dragon hatchlings stay in their shells, if they know the horror that awaits? .;_

_;. That's the cruelty of it. Biologically, we can only spend so much time in the egg. I was reaching the end when I hatched in the fire. .;_

_;. It is a pity... .; _Harry sighed after thinking for a long while. _;. Both magical and non-magical humans have created a world where dragons and we cannot co-exist freely. .;_

_;. Indeed. It's not just the humans, but the other races as well. .; _

Harry thought for a moment. _;. If you can drop the savage dragon facade and stop trying to kill or eat us or burn everything down, you may have free rein around the flat. You may not leave it, or the Ministry will clap you up in Dragon Hell since it's bloody illegal for us to keep you. Got it? .;_

Rosalind paused despite snorting in contempt when Harry mentioned keeping her _– keeping a dragon like herself – pah!_ The only movements from her were the gentle flaps of her wings maintaining her altitude and her quiet breathing. Suddenly, she dropped down in front of Harry with startling speed and grace. She pressed her scaly forehead elegantly against Harry's, and Harry was vaguely aware of a powerful wash of energy that seemed to profuse the area. The foreign magic streamed through both him and Rosalind.

It filled Harry with a thrilling euphoria that he had never experienced before.

The energy eventually dissipated, and Rosalind removed her head.

_;. We have a Dragon's Pact, human. You keep your word, and I will keep mine._ You keep me away from those magical bastards, and I won't attempt to kill you or your friends, or burn the flat down. _.;_

Harry nodded.

As Harry turned around to leave the room, Rosalind followed close behind, determined to see a world outside the rocky room that she had called home in the past month.

* * *

**A/N: **Nothing like being told how your parents behaved when they were your age. :P JK should have called the Slug Vomiting Charm the Slug Spewing Charm – it's got more of a ring to it.

I've added a Status section to my profile, which will give a rough estimate on when the next update will be published.

Okay, let's try that A/N from the previous chapter again in English! There's no need to understand the biological details in my story except to know that Forest and Harry are trying to verify the Stone's properties and they are trying to see if they could get the Elixir to those who really need it and smack one down on Dumbledore's camp while they are at it. But for those of you who care – I will try again since obviously, some people do :D.

If you have questions regarding content below, feel free to PM/leave a review and I can try and explain it better for you.

SD

* * *

**Forest/Harry's experiment first. **

Basically, two conditions – cells grown with Elixir, and cells grown without Elixir. The latter situation is what we call in science, a control, which is the condition that isn't treated. These cells used are somatic cells (body cells) as opposed to sex cells (sperm and egg).

Telomerase is a protein/nucleic acid combination. Proteins are organic molecules that contain amino acids which is a simple molecule consisting of NH2 and COOH. (N is Nitrogen, H is Hydrogen, O is oxygen, and C is carbon) – a little bit of organic chemistry. Nucleic acids are what DNA is made up of, except in telomerase, it is single stranded, instead of the double stringed helix.

A chromosome is actually an organized structure of condensed DNA and protein. Usually when DNA is present in the cell, it resembles the noodles of spaghetti or something like that, but when a cell begins to divide, these long strands coil and get packaged into the discreet units known as chromosomes. When Cell division occurs, the cell needs to duplicate its DNA. This duplication step is called mitosis. There are many steps involved in mitosis, but basically what happens is the DNA helix is unzipped, and using the unzipped strands as a template, a new strand of DNA can be formed. However, due to the nature of DNA replication, there's always a segment left at the end of the chromosome that gets omitted in the next generation. Fortunately for us, we've got long repetitive DNA sequences at the ends of our chromosomes, so the omission is no big deal. However, as we get older, these repetitive segments (the telomere) get shorter and shorter, and eventually disappear. Our important information is then the victim of this process, and things like cancer will happen – which is why people say if you live long enough, you will get cancer.

What telomerase does is that it extends those repetitive DNA sequences (telomeres) so that our cells can divide more before the telomeres disappear. If we could get telomerase expressed in our cells, then we can theoretically live longer, unless you die of a random mutation from carcinogens, other natural causes, etc.

**Immunofluorescence **

This is a microscope technique that most people don't encounter unless they get sucked into doing biology in undergrad or working in a cell/biochemistry/whatever lab. But it's widely used.

Immuno – refers to immune system. Our body has a complex immune system, and includes a branch that is capable of recognizing what shouldn't belong in our bodies. When a foreign substance (antigen) enters your body, your immune system will make antibodies to target the foreign material (this takes time) to target it for destruction/clearing.

So what scientists have done is to use other animals that have proteins that are different than ours, and inject the human proteins into these other animals (typical animals include mice/rats/sheep/goat/etc). These animals produce antibodies to our human proteins. We harvest these proteins and use them in our experiments. These antibodies will then go around our specimens of interest and stick themselves to the human protein that they were created for. It's similar to the concept of vaccine making.

Typically, another antibody (this one designed to recognize molecules belonging to specific species – like goats/rats/etc) is conjugated to a fluorophore – a special 'tag' when hit with a specific laser will glow. A computer can capture the images.

This technique is excellent for figuring out where things are, but not what they do.

* * *

So anyways, review?


	23. XXIII - The Inquisition

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own!

* * *

**Chapter XXIII – The Inquisition **

Remus and Forest were sitting at Harry's dining table and between them sat an enormous monster of a quiche baked with onions, sausages, spinach, mushrooms, bacon and whatever was left in the fridge by Harry himself sitting on a wooden flower-patterned coaster. Forest had cut himself an enormous slice, as did Remus, and the two had dug in with enthusiasm. Hadrian had already been well-fed prior and was still making the headache inducing wail of Muggle emergency vehicles.

Remus winced.

"So, what are we up to, today?" Remus vanished a few crumbs on his new set of navy blue robes courtesy of Harry and Tonks' shopping spree that had included stores in both Muggle and wizarding London.

"Thinking we should hit the lab. Got some equations that need to be worked out, if you are any good at Arithmancy..."

"It's been awhile, but I think I can be of some use to you. Where did you go, yesterday, out of curiosity?"

"Around... Actually, I was talking to a few Professors down at the Universities around here. There's a certain Dr. Elliot from Westminster University that could get us some mice and some carcinogens to induce the diseases that we are interested in. Fortunately, we aren't dealing with genetically altered mice, so that dampens the price tag quite a bit." Forest explained.

"How did you find these people?" Remus asked.

"Well, a friend of a friend... well let's say someone I used to work with back in the States knows quite a few of the British lab rats around here."

"Ah, bloody hell!" Remus almost spilled his coffee when he noticed Harry coming out of Rosalind's den, with the familiar coppery dragon flapping after him.

Forest summoned his wand, just as his son called out, "Dragon, dragon!"

Harry put up his hand, indicating that he had this situation totally under control.

"Are you bloody mad?" Forest exclaimed, "That's a dragon!"

"Rosalind and I have reached an agreement." Harry explained, "We allow her to roam around the flat, and she won't hurt us. This pact has been magically sealed."

"Merlin..." Forest slowly put his wand back in his sleeve; the stunned look of disbelief was still present on his countenance.

The brown dragon immediately took off and flew in circles around Harry's living room, pausing to admire the fire. Zaliss, who was curled up near the stone of the fireplace, shared a few hisses with Rosalind, who snarled back. She swooped through the dining area, around the kitchen, her long tail weaving dangerously around various objects but miraculously knocking none over. She paused to sniff and examine a few objects and continued her tour around the flat.

"We might as well fire-proof everything... just in case." Remus mused, "Egad, so you were able to talk to Rosalind with Parseltongue!"

"Yup." Harry smiled when Rosalind dove into his room nearby.

"Let's let Tonks discover our free-ranging dragon when she gets back. I am sure that will be fun." Forest grinned at Remus, who simply sipped at his coffee with two creams. His own eyes were dancing with Marauder mischief.

* * *

One late cold and dreary November morning, a delegation of people walked through the Hogwarts grounds, with a man dressed in simple but expensively cut black robes, with the sleeves and collar edged in silver leading the pack. There were over twenty people in the group, and they entered through the front doors of the castle without much fanfare. It was a gloomy day, with dense fog obscuring visibility beyond a few metres.

Albus Dumbledore who had been hoping for an early and quiet breakfast at the Great Hall was shocked to see the flock of trustees and other individuals walk towards him, after spotting him near the entrance of the Great Hall. He groaned inwardly when he saw the grey-streaked raven haired man with piercing blue eyes made eye contact with him. The man's long dark hair was gathered in a simple ponytail, and he was slightly taller than Albus.

Faking his best smile, Albus asked, "May I solicit the reason for this visit, Master Winters?"

The man grimaced, "We are here for the Inquisition. You, of course, have received our letter detailing the event yesterday?"

Albus was beginning to feel a little migraine pulsate in the left hemisphere of his brain. He remembered the letter, but had forgotten to open it after trying to compose a letter to Nicolas Flamel regarding the disappearance of his most important treasure. Nicolas was a man with a temper, and it really didn't pay to get on his wrong side although Albus was wise enough to realize that the message must be sent sooner rather than later – even though he had put it off for weeks now. Usually the letters from the trustees were on matters seldom important, so Albus hadn't given much thought to the correspondence.

"Surely a day's notice is inadequate?" The headmaster cajoled using his most persuasive tone.

Lucius Malfoy spoke this time, attired in robes similar to his colleague, but the silver trim was replaced with a white-gold one. "Dumbledore, Dumbledore... If you read in our glorious rulebook, a day's notice is more than adequate." Lucius' silken voice sounded rather like the cat that got the cream.

"Whether you like it or not..." A young female spoke this time, her brown hair was loose over her shoulders, "This Inquisition will happen."

"Mistress Ellis, I'll have you know that our professors are the best of the best and Hogwarts is still the preferred institute of choice for learning. I am afraid –" Albus tried what he thought was the weak link of the chain.

"Then, why has enrollment dropped throughout the past decades since you've been Headmaster? Why were important courses like Economics and World Politics scrapped from the curriculum? Why do we have shoddy –" The young girl fired back.

"Now, now Hilary, we can deal with this later." Edward hushed the youngest member of the Board of Governors and before Dumbledore could fire back an appropriate retort, he interrupted, "We are here to assess in an unbiased manner what Hogwarts needs changed, and to ensure that the teaching at Hogwarts puts the students first. And with the incident regarding your most recent DADA professor..."

"Ah yes, Quirrell," A severe looking woman of Minerva's stock picked up the conversation, "Safety is a very important thing at Hogwarts, for both teachers and students. We also want to ensure that classes are conducted safely. And most importantly –"

"That Hogwarts does not... what is the phrase... fall behind the times, Headmaster Dumbledore." Lucius finished with great satisfaction.

Dumbledore gathered up the vestiges of his enthusiasm and boomed, his voice echoing throughout the room, "I assure every one of you that your anxieties are misplaced. Hogwarts is, and will continue to be the excellent school that she was."

"We will see... We will see... Albus. Good day." Edward bowed to the Headmaster respectfully, before leading everyone to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. Much to Dumbledore's surprise, they all scattered for the various currently empty students' tables instead of the Head Table.

* * *

"Merlin, what are you doing up so early Henry?" Anthony barely almost physically collided with his fellow friend on the way to the Great Hall for an early start to the day.

"You mean, so late. I couldn't sleep at all yesterday! Bloody insomnia," Henry complained.

"Mate, you don't look so good." Anthony looked at his friend with concern, "Should go see Madam Pomfrey..."

Henry shrugged, "I will be alright. And Anthony, why the blazes are you up so early on a fine day?"

"I forgot there was a quiz for Potions today... I know I have Potions last period, but I've got a do a speck of studying. And by the way speaking of Potions, I found this interesting Potion regarding Animagi yesterday night."

"Ah, did you?" Henry looked interested, "What does it do?"

"What are you lot doing here so early? Henry!" Hermione's chipper voice was a stark contrast to Henry's exhausted one.

"Good to see you too, Hermione." Henry replied drolly, but his tone lacked the lustre it usually had.

"Morning!" Anthony cheerfully replied back, "You are good at Potions, aren't you Hermione?"

"Well, Blaise and Su might be better, but I guess I am good." Hermione looked at her fellow Ravenclaw thoughtfully, "So, why do you need a Potioneer?"

"Well you see..." Anthony began to explain, "You know what, I will show you the book after classes today back at our Common Room. It might be on the illegal side, you see."

Hermione's eyes widened and then she offered a joke, "Oh, illegal... We seem to have plenty expertise in that particular area."

Henry and Anthony both chuckled as they entered through the doors of the Great Hall, heading towards the Slytherin table, as according to their rotation schedule. They were surprised to see unusual looking people not dressed in Hogwarts robes sitting at the various tables.

"Who are those people?" Anthony whispered to his two companions.

Hermione shrugged, "Beats me. Maybe –"

"Oh, there's my dad," Henry interrupted, "Sitting over there with Draco's old daddy and I think those are other Trustees, I am not quite sure..." He frowned for a second in thought.

"It's the assessment!" Anthony whispered all too eagerly.

"You don't say?" Henry jibed, causing Anthony and Hermione to crack a wide grin.

When the trio got to the Slytherin table, Hermione and Anthony took seats facing each other, while Henry nonchalantly tapped on the shoulder of his father who was in the middle of a conversation. The older Winters finally turned around to face his son.

"Hello, Henry," Edward greeted in his usually reserved voice, but his son could see the flash of warmth in his father's eyes.

"Hello, dad," Henry replied back, "These are some of my friends, Hermione and Anthony."

"Ah, Ravenclaws..." Lucius Malfoy ditched the other conversation he had been having with the two other people at their table.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy, Master Winters," Anthony greeted the two trustees. Hermione followed suit.

"Hello guys!" Everyone turned around to see Neville, Su and Daphne approach the table.

"A Gryff too?" Lucius remarked with amusement, "Augusta's grandchild, aren't you?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy." Neville replied politely back, before taking the chair beside Anthony.

"Mr. Malfoy, Edward." Daphne smiled wryly at the two adults, "Pleasure."

"Pleasure as always, Ms. Greengrass," Lucius drawled.

"Daphne," Edward smiled.

"Doing the assessment today?" Daphne inquired.

"No, we are merely visiting..." Edward grinned in amusement.

"Don't listen to that joker," An unfamiliar blonde sitting beside Lucius interrupted briskly, "Of course we are here to do our job."

"Merely a jest, Anastasia, merely a jest," Edward protested, before looking down at his plate and mumbled a few words after tapping it with his own wand. Half a minute later, a breakfast of sizzled sausages, vegetable omelet and a secondary platter of fruit appeared on the table.

At that signal, everyone else repeated the same, and food appeared in front of everyone. Since it was still early morning, the usual breakfast buffet wasn't set up yet, but the house elves were willing to cater specifically for the early risers. If someone requested a dish that wasn't part of Hogwarts normal fare, the elves were happy to whip it up, providing that the would-be-eater waited several minutes. Henry tapped one of newly appeared pitchers of milk with his wand, and guided the pitcher so that it decanted its contents to the glasses of everyone at the table without spilling a drop.

"Damn, nifty charm you've got there," Neville remarked.

"Oh thanks," Henry grinned, "Read it in a book somewhere."

"So do you kids all sit together every meal?" Anastasia asked, while buttering her toast, "That used to be a no-no back when we were at Hogwarts."

"Yeah, well, we got a few odd looks at the beginning..." Su began to explain.

"A few odd looks? More like insults!" Anthony exclaimed while picking up a rich chocolate-chip muffin, "But we gave them our best glares and retorts back, of course."

"So, now it's pretty normal to sit at other House tables... I noticed some of the upper years doing so with their friends shortly after we started doing it." Hermione finished.

"Inter-House unity..." Lucius looked pained.

"Now, now Lucius..." Edward interrupted, "It's a good thing that everyone is getting along with each other. For a small fraction of the Wizarding World, Britain is too divided. It's about time someone changed things up a bit."

"And I hope you don't bring up the pureblood tosh," Anastasia remarked darkly to Lucius, "If we didn't have Muggleborns, we would have died out, long ago. Voldemort was a bloody fool."

"Don't speak his name!" Lucius groaned, "Can we please not bring up the mistakes of my youth?"

"Why, hello Draco," Edward spotted the blond boy trying to sneak his way around the mixed group of Slytherins, Ravenclaws and Gryffindor to the other side of the adults.

"Master Winters, father, Mistress Bones, and Mr. Harrison." Draco nodded respectfully to the four adults at the table before taking the seat beside Anastasia Bones.

Lucius sighed, observing the lack of interaction between his son and the other students sitting on their other side. "Looks like my son has not joined up with your son's group."

Normally, Lucius would rather have Draco have friends among the Slytherins but he was shrewd enough to realize that several of Henry's friends were born into powerful families either rich or politically charged – Longbottoms, Greengrasses, the Boots – after seeing Terry arrive – and he knew that Henry was best friends with Blaise Zabini – whose mother had amassed an enormous fortune through her various marriages with filthy rich wizards abroad. He would have to have a talk with Draco over Christmas regarding his choice of friends especially when he saw Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle take seats next to and across his son. He knew the senior Goyle and Crabbe personally, and Voldemort had chosen them for their sadistic and crude violent tendencies, not for their brains, political savvy or money. He did however smile when Pansy Parkinson sat down near Draco and drew him into conversation. The Parkinsons were a good connection at least.

"No, I am afraid not. They never mention Draco in their letters." Edward agreed, "So where's Blaise?"

Edward's question was met by chuckles.

"Blaise? Our Blaise?" Hermione giggled, "At this hour?"

"Out like a light in his room. I bet you. Mind you, Stephen's just as bad." Terry guffawed.

Daphne snickered into her breakfast, "Usually shows up five minutes before classes' start – if we are lucky to see him at all before class. And there's still over an hour till first bell."

"Well, it's nice to know that some things never change." Edward remarked with great amusement.

* * *

Henry sat beside Blaise during History of Magic, his entire body feeling sore, and leaden from the cumulative lack of sleep from the previous days. Predictably, their ghostly professor had not noticed the two evaluators – Edward and a young Improper Use of Magic official, Sasha who was barely years out of Hogwarts herself – were sitting at the back of the room, surrounded by parchment – and had simply floated to the centre of the room, where his desk was located. Professor Binns flipped through his notes, before beginning the dreaded two hour droning as it was a double-History period.

Seeing that Blaise and Henry sat in the middle of the classroom, Blaise found his eyes wandering through the various tables, his attention anywhere but the vacuum like noise being issued from the ghost in front. Hermione and Daphne were huddled close to each other; exchanging notes at their table, while Tracey and Terry had broke out a deck of Muggle cards supplied by Hannah under a specific table at the back of the room for such emergencies. The cards had been charmed to be invisible, and only a person knowing exactly where the deck was could reach for it and grab it. Once grabbed, the cards would turn visible until placed back. Normally, Anthony, Su, Stephen, Padma, and some Slytherins would gather at the back of the room to play poker or other quiet card games. They had developed a rotation system so that there were never more than four people playing at once. The completely absent-minded Professor Binns never seemed to be aware of the happenings in his own classroom, and continued his dreary lectures at his own accord regardless of disruption.

Blaise, now thoroughly bored, turned his attention to Henry, whose forehead had finally met with the scrap of parchment on the surface of their wooden desk. His best friend really didn't look well. He gave his friend a gentle elbow, but Henry remained in his prone state. It was almost impossible to interrupt Professor Binns mid-lecture, and Henry's dad was busy scribbling away on the parchment in front of him, while occasionally sparing a glance at the professor at the front.

Blaise sighed.

Henry meanwhile found himself trapped in one of the dreams that had been haunting him with increasing frequency from the past month. With each dream came increased detail. He felt warm and moist, and he found himself moving along a damp dirt path, surrounded by enormous trees, shrubs with moisture covered leaves, and other flora that he had never seen in his life. He could feel the squishy nature of the moist soil underneath with each step he took. Chattering and rustling noises seem to emerge from the trees, and when he looked up, monkeys swung from branch to branch with acrobatic ease, while exotic birds were perched elegantly on sturdy branches.

He could smell the dampness of the air, and other scents that he could not pinpoint. Before everything went dark signalling the end of the dream, he had the vague sensation that he had been crawling on the palms of hands and his feet, and the flash of something scaly in a slow-moving river nearby.

When the Slytherin boy finally came to, he realized that his forehead was no longer resting uncomfortably on a piece of hard desk. He was surrounded by something soft, and an antiseptic smell greeted his nostrils. He heard voices.

"Well, looks like his fever finally broke..."

"Merlin, forty-one degrees Celsius..." This statement was from his father. There was an undercurrent of worry in the voice.

"He probably had an infection – it's not unusual during this time of the year."

"Yeah, I guess so. It's just that he's sick so rarely that it's a rather unusual episode."

"Henry! You're awake!" This was from Blaise and Terry and the suddenness of the exclamation made Henry involuntarily shudder.

Henry wearily opened his eyes to look at the Slytherin and Ravenclaw beside him. "

"You know where you are, right? Not delusional or anything?" Terry asked, with a glint in his eye.

Henry sighed quelling his urge to make a joke, realizing his throat was dry. "Hogwarts? Madam Pomfrey's old torture chamber? And can I get some water?"

"Right-o," Blaise said cheerfully, before walking away from the bed.

"So, what happened?" Henry asked.

"Ah, Henry..." Henry felt a weight displace the mattress of his bed. He turned around to see his father sitting at the side, like he did when Henry had been a lot younger. "You look better. Well, Blaise and Terry noticed that your sleep was rather... let's say... unconventional."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Here's your water." Blaise handed his friend a mug of warm water, which Henry gratefully sipped from.

"Something was definitely wrong when you started prowling around on your hands and feet and sniffing the ground. Caused quite a commotion in History, but of course, Binns missed it. Blaise tried to snap you out of your sleep-crawling." Terry mused. "Your father had to carry you out of the room to Madam Pomfrey."

"So, what period is it now?" Henry asked, cringing at the entire series of events. It was very embarrassing.

"You missed Lunch, anyhow." Blaise grinned at Henry's disappointed look, "And we are currently missing the period after that too."

"So, why are you lot here? I might be contagious, y'know?" Henry grinned.

Blaise laughed, "Merlin, any reason to miss class is an excellent one."

"Yeah, we were hoping to catch whatever you've got so we can miss classes tomorrow." Terry chuckled.

"So, what are we going to do about Binns?" Henry asked his father.

"Well... officially, I am not supposed to tell you, but it's looking very bad for your ghostly professor at the moment especially since he failed to notice that one of his students was extremely sick. We still have to combine our evaluations and the panel will ultimately decide the final measures to be undertaken." Edward placed a gentle hand on his son's forehead, noting that Henry's body had turned down the thermostat, "Fever's definitely gone though. Definitely take it easy the next few days. And that means no midnight prowls to the broom shed, and visits to the Kitchen after curfew."

Henry looked crestfallen, "How did you know about that?"

Edward laughed, "How would I not?"

* * *

"Hey Neville!" Blaise greeted his Gryffindor friend outside the Greenhouses in anticipation of Herbology. It was the last class of the day.

"Hey yourself!" Neville called out with a big grin at his Slytherin friend, "How's Henry doing?"

"Still in the Infirmary, unfortunately, Madam Pomfrey refused to let him leave, despite his protests." Blaise sighed, "He's doing a lot better."

The two friends turned around to hear Draco's drawl, "Did you see what happened to Winters this morning? Crawling on his hands and feet like a common animal..."

Pansy laughed, while Goyle and Crabbe chuckled a delayed second later, their brains had finally processed the insult.

Blaise walked over to the infuriating Malfoy, with Neville close behind. Daphne who had also heard the insult was making a beeline for Draco as well.

"Take that back Draco!" Tracey got there first, seemingly out of nowhere to Blaise and Neville.

Draco sneered, "I was merely stating the facts, Tracey."

"Don't be a fool. He was very sick." Blaise hissed, "I'd like to see how you'd behave under a high fever, you heartless prat!"

"What's going on here?" Lucius Malfoy strode up to the brewing dissonance, his arms laden with parchment.

"Nothing, father," Draco quickly replied, reading the not-too-pleased look on his father's face.

"I hope Henry's feeling better." Lucius said, determined to make amends for his son's stupidity, "I will be sitting in your Herbology class today, alongside with Healer Malcolm."

"Ah, nothing to worry about regarding Professor Sprout," Neville exclaimed, "She's a first class professor!"

"That's good to hear, Mr. Longbottom," Lucius nodded, "Well, looks like class is about to begin."

The group of Gryffindors and Slytherins walked through the open glass doors that led into the warm greenhouse that was designed for First Years. Neville and Blaise sat together at one of the workbenches closest to the front, with an empty seat that was usually Henry's spot. It wasn't long before Professor Sprout made her way to the front of the greenhouse. She was a squat and short witch, with dirt covered robes and a tattered hat. She took attendance, and Blaise explained Henry's absence, in which she nodded sympathetically. She also made eye contact with the two men who were assessing her today, and gave them a friendly smile, before launching into the day's lesson.

"Today is more of a practical class. I've devised a project that will last you all for the rest of the year. So..." Professor Sprout stopped to remove several brown packets from her robe pockets. "I will give each table two seeds from a species of magical plant. It will be up to you to figure out the species of the plant and whatever care it shall need. Usually I give this project to my upper years, but I think, it will be an interesting twist to the usual dry theory that first year classes are filled with. At the end of the year, each group will be expected to turn in the plant and an individual report, which I will discuss on a later date. Are we clear?"

There were agreeing nods and murmurs of excitement from everyone in the class. This surely beat classifying flora, any day.

Professor Sprout then circulated around the classroom, handing out brown packets to each group of students. She saved a cream-coloured envelope for last, and handed it to Neville – her best student – and gave him a wink.

"I think you will enjoy this one."

"Thanks Professor Sprout," Neville smiled back at the cheery Professor.

"You know where all the pots, soil, fertilizer and the equipment are. After when you are done, I've still got some weeper shrubs from last class that need some repotting."

Neville broke open the envelope and out popped two seeds. Blaise picked one up, and marveled at its smooth and almost marble-like texture. The two boys continued to sit at their table while almost everyone else from the other tables was frantically gathering materials for growing their seeds.

"Pity Henry isn't here. He loves mysteries." Blaise said to Neville.

Neville was deep in thought, "Hmm... I've seen pictures of these seeds somewhere... But not in our textbook."

"Well, I would imagine Professor Sprout wants us to go beyond our text," Blaise smiled, "And that wink she gave you..."

Neville pulled out a piece of parchment and began to do a careful scaled sketch of the seeds with a Muggle pencil. The young herb-loving boy wasn't an artist like Hannah, but he could do beautiful and detailed sketches of plants. Blaise wrote down the characteristics of the seeds, including measurements, colour, texture and weight. There was a scale at every bench.

"You know what I think..." Neville mused to Blaise.

"What?" Blaise asked.

"We need to get back at Draco for his unnecessary gossip. He's been spreading it since History of Magic was over, while you lot were in the infirmary." Neville finished his sketch and replied quietly, mindful that Lucius Malfoy was at the back of the room, observing Professor Sprout offering advice and explaining the right way to plant a seed to the various groups.

"Yeah. That bastard!" Blaise fumed, "Honestly..."

"We should let Henry choose the method." Neville continued drolly, "It's his dignity at stake!"

Blaise laughed as he thought of the endless possibilities, "Good old Henry will think of something – he always does."

"Let's get potting then." Neville grinned and laughed when Blaise pointed to Ronald's table. The three Gryffindor boys that were there were clumsily adding soil to their pot and had finished by sticking in their seeds haphazardly, the soil barely covering them. The team of Draco, Gregory and Vincent wasn't faring much better.

Blaise frowned, "I really do feel sorry for their plants."

"Save your care for our baby..." Neville was already up, hunting for the best pot and best soil for their project, leaving Blaise wide-eyed at his statement.

_Neville is totally bonkers. Oh well, hello O in Herbology!_

* * *

It was still dark when Harry was woken up by his indestructible magical alarm clock. He sleepily turned off the blasted racket issuing from the device, before crawling out of bed. In a simple striped t-shirt and pajama bottoms he walked out of his room, and was immediately greeted by Rosalind.

_;. Morning, human,_ _.;_

_;. Morning, dragon. You'd think you could call me by my name by now? .;_

The dragon let out an amused snort, but followed the boy to the lab where he pulled a simmering cauldron out of the fire, added a few ingredients, and stirred the cauldron a bit before walking around to check the state of everyone else's potions. Rosalind looked curiously at all the apparatus spread out on the benches as she perched carefully on a bench top, marvelling how humans were strange things, indeed.

_;. Why don't you start, human? .;_

_;. Right back at you, dragon! .;_

Harry then walked to the kitchen, and removed a stasis charm on a plate of food he had made the night before. He walked over to the living room couch in the darkness as his magic sense could see the world just as well or maybe even better. Rosalind flew ahead of him and stopped at the single-person leather couch and curled up with the cushions. Harry sat down, and proceeded to enjoy the still warm leftovers from yesterday's dinner. Stasis charms were definitely better than any Muggle alternative, Harry mused. Leftover barbeque ribs, potato wedges and raw vegetables were the fare from yesterday night. He flicked his left index finger and summoned a glass from the countertop of the kitchen. Summoning his wand, he did a quick _Aguamenti_, filling his glass with the liquid. Conjuring water out of nowhere was beyond Harry's abilities, just like Toph's earth shifting abilities although Harry had a feeling that he could somehow gather the water vapor from the atmosphere and get it to condense into liquid.

Hadrian hadn't shown his abilities to conjure water yet, despite his own creative manipulations of the substance, which drove his father absolutely insane. Harry had to laugh, remembering the day when Hadrian decided to have a tsunami themed bath, and a miserable Forest had emerged from the bathroom, saturated and pissed to get his wand which he had left outside the bathroom to dry the chaos, and wondering where the heck his little boy had heard about that particular phenomenon. He made a mental note to keep books and news on watery natural disasters far away from his son. Hadrian had then run after his father, starkers, yelling "Tsunami! Tsunami!" while deliberately sending puddles of water everywhere. Rosalind had fled back into her den when she saw the water-terror emerge from the bathroom.

Tonks had been so sure that she had broken a rib while laughing that day, as did Remus who had almost choked.

It took a lot of drying spells to fix that mess.

There were several new paintings that hung on the walls of the living room. The most recent one was one of Rosalind, sleeping quietly in her curled up position on the closed lid of Harry's piano. The dragon had been indignant that Harry had painted her with oil paints, but deciding that it was a flattering image, let it slide. He smiled in amusement at the memory. He had also painted one of Hadrian and Forest, sitting outside on a nice day at Hyde Park surrounded by fallen autumn leaves. The little boy was running rampart in the leaves in the animated picture with glee, but would pause for a few seconds to sit on his father's leg. He was currently painting a portrait of Remus, and hoped to give it as a Christmas present next month.

Checking the clock that hung above the door to the outside world, Harry knew he was already late. He picked up Despair from the dining table and slung the blade and scabbard over his shoulders. Summoning a pair of jeans and a Muggle hoodie, he quickly attired in his outside clothing, throwing his cloak on just as he left his flat.

He threw his hood on when the first spatters of rain hit him, and quickly placed a warming and waterproofing charm on his cloak, before walking the familiar route to Ivan's house.

It was an uneventful walk, and when Harry finally reached the front door of Ivan's wand shop, there was a cryptic note written in Ivan's writing.

_Are you prepared? – I._

Harry took the parchment off the door, after discerning that it wasn't a Portkey and examined the odd material. It was parchment, but it was unusually thick, and had a strange rough texture to it. He put the note in a pocket of his cloak, and pushed the door open. The place was dark and silent. Harry tried lighting the room's candles, but that failed when he realized that there were no candles. Upon further examination of his surroundings by using magic-sense, Harry was shocked to discover that the crazy man had completely rearranged the area, and he knew that this was a test of some sort.

Cautiously walking on the creaking floorboards, Harry slowly made his way towards the steps. His magic detected strings of magic – red in colouration – that enveloped the stairs. He had no wish to see what sadistic thing the wiry magical strands did, and with caution, carefully removed the barriers on the stairs. As a further precaution, Harry summoned his wand and ran a series of ward-detecting spells, just in case, there was one he couldn't see.

He walked up the stairs, placing a Silencing charm the wooden slats so they wouldn't squeak when he trod upon them. When he reached the landing, only his fast reflexes saved him. He ducked as a bunch of spears were flung at where his upper body had been, and the weapons clattered loudly on the stairs behind him. He swore when he realized that there was a carved picture of a bundle of spears on the wooden board he had just stepped on.

The area in front of him was large and empty, but immersed in so much energy that Harry couldn't tell where one magical tangle began, and the other ended. He used his magic to tug at the entangled magical barriers, but they held tight. Sighing in resignation, he continued forward, avoiding boards with carved pictures on them.

And then, everything went dark. Harry cursed and tried to summon fire, but he couldn't. He wasn't able to feel any of his magical reserves. Walking a few steps back, Harry regained his magic-sense, but by experimentally stepping forward, he was immersed in pitch black, again.

It was a no-magic barrier. Ivan had warned him about those. They were extraordinarily difficult to set up, and only lasted for short periods of time. Harry quickly conjured an old-style Chinese paper lantern with his wand, and lit the candle within wandlessly with his silver flames, before pressing forward, feeling rather naked without his ability to use his magic.

Fortunately, the conjured lamp worked and Harry was able to see a short distance in front of him. He was also sure that Ivan had added a fogging charm before erecting the no-magic barrier, since his visibility was so low. And then, he instinctively sensed movement in front of him, and grabbing Despair with his right hand, he slashed in the direction. His attack was immediately met on by a parry. This time, Harry could see a dark figure, with an unknown sword. The two traded blows, and danced nimbly around the area. Harry was cautious to move, since he had no idea what the surroundings were like, due to his limited sight. After exchanging blows for several minutes, Harry saw an opening and flung his lantern at the area that he discerned was his attacker's face. Harry's lantern was very flammable, and the hard swing caused the lantern to burst into flames. The attacker let out a cry, but that split second distraction was enough for Harry to swing his sword hard at his attacker's blade, causing the person to drop it. The lantern had dropped on the floor, and Harry saw that the floorboards had caught on fire.

"Oh, bloody hell." It was Ivan's voice. "You pass Harry, you pass."

Harry's mentor immediately incanted a long passage in which Harry recognized as Mandarin, and Harry found his magic-sense returning to him as the wards were removed. He reached out for the spreading fire, and extinguished them with his magic.

Ivan removed the black cloth that obscured his face. "I wanted to show you that you couldn't rely on magic, solely."

"I see." Harry summoned his wand and muttered "_Reparo_.".

The burned floorboards repaired themselves, and another flick of his wand vanished the ashes was once made up the paper lantern.

"I am curious." Harry stated, "When I walked into the room, I sensed so much magic, that I couldn't untangle them."

"Ah," Ivan smiled, "That's the beauty of the no-magic barrier. It's designed to be so convoluted that only one or two mages in the history of wizardkind was able to remove them. It was popular back in the old days of the Orient, where armies would have a mage or a team of wardbreakers. Toph gave me the rune stone for the ward, so all I had to do was say the incantation. I think it still has enough juice in it for fifteen more minutes."

"Couldn't you just recharge them?"

"Nay. Not these oriental wards. The materials used only allow for one charge. Then, it crumbles into dust."

"Damn." Harry sighed.

"So, what on earth induced you to make a paper lantern?" Ivan asked, "Surprised me when you threw it mid-battle."

"Well, I like the old-fashioned paper lantern." Harry explained, "And I thought that it could be a useful surprise, since I was going in without magic."

"Well, I guess we can call it quits for today." Ivan mused, "You can wake up Remus early and get him to teach you whatever he had planned for today. Also, come by for dinner at six? Bring Hadrian with you. I want to see the extent of his skills."

"Alright then, see you Ivan!" Harry bade his guardian goodbye, before heading out.

* * *

**A/N: **Merry Christmas, everyone!

Review?


	24. XXIV - A Slippery Slope

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Like always, I don't own anything familiar.

* * *

**Chapter XXIV – A Slippery Slope**

"Albus! What is the meaning of this?" An incensed old man with a long white beard that rivalled Dumbledore's pushed through the door to the Headmaster's office with violence. He held his old and possibly former friend's letter in a death grip with his left hand.

The Headmaster swallowed surveying the aggravated state of the man in front of him, before saying, "Nicolas, let us discuss the matter when you are in a calmer state of mind –"

"Calmer state of mind?" Nicolas almost roared, "I am calm. Deadly calm. Where is my Stone?"

Albus almost flinched when Nicolas crumbled his letter loudly into a ball and flung it at him. Albus moved out of the way, but the paper ball clung onto the end of the Headmaster's beard. "Perenelle and I are living on borrowed time. We only have enough Elixir for the next few months, and then, we are at the mercy of genetic malfunction! At our age!"

"Could you not make another one? You may still have a wizard's lifetime left!" Dumbledore quickly rationalized a response.

"Make another one?" Nicolas's blue eyes flashed with frustration, "You knew the plan! We made a big enough Stone to live for a millennium, no longer, no less. Perenelle and I agreed that we would greet Death at our choosing after our thousandth birthday, in search of the next great adventure! We destroyed our notes..." The old man stopped to catch his breath before continuing on, "After Perenelle's fiasco a decade ago when every Potions Master and Alchemist was out for our blood and thieves came knocking at our warded doors in droves! It took me three long decades to create the Stone from scratch, Albus. And those decades were from my youthful days!"

The Portraits of the various Headmasters and Headmistresses from the past were listening avidly to the exchange of the two men in the room. It wasn't often that Albus got a scolding, aside from the times where Minerva McGonagall would give the Headmaster a piece or two of her mind.

"I mean, Perenelle and I are okay with the idea of dying – but the idea..." Nicolas trailed off for a bit and shuddered, "That our greatest accomplishment is someone else's hands... is unbearable! The very idea makes me nauseous!"

Several Portraits winced at the tone given to the word 'nauseous'.

"Albus, in the past, your plans were beautiful, brilliant – well executed like the greatest of operas... from the days of Grindelwald to convincing the world that the Stone was of limited importance. They kept me enthralled. But..." Instead of the angry heated voice from before, Nicolas' voice was now quiet, a little nostalgic, yet sharp as diamond and Albus had to listen carefully to catch his words.

"But what?" Albus finally interjected.

"You are slipping. Mistakes have been made. Your plans to subdue the next generations of British wizards are crumbling as I speak; especially with what took place at your school within the last week. There are whispers in the rumor-mill that Binns will be sacked and your power to appoint teachers will be nullified. The Stone, the Stone..." Flamel looked pained, "All for your need to bring your pet Potter and possessed Quirrell to meet. Egad!" Flamel then proceeded to swear in streams of French when he heard a gasp at his revelations somewhere in the office. He looked up at the numerous Portraits who immediately feigned sleep or rushed out of their frames at his scrutiny.

As the two elderly men made their way to Albus' personal quarters to continue the discussion, a tiny black beetle made its way out of Albus' office, via the door that Nicolas had kindly left open when he had burst furiously into Dumbledore's office, minutes prior.

* * *

The next Wednesday morning, the denizens of Hogwarts were treated to a rare sight in the Great Hall. Instead of the usual four student tables, there were now five, and the Head table was occupied by all eleven Trustees. The fifth table was reserved for the Professors, and people noted that the Headmaster had also been dethroned from his usual spot at the centre of the Head table to sit with the rest of his staff. Neville, Terry and the usual bunch of friends sat patiently at the Gryffindor table, while gossip and speculations from the excited students of every House echoed throughout the Hall.

Suddenly, a formidable witch with an old battered grey hat perched on top of her head stood up from the centre of the table, and gestured for quiet. The ruckus immediately died down, and she began to speak. Her voice rang clear and serious, with no need of a _Sonorous _Charm.

"Good morning, students, Headmaster Dumbledore, and our esteemed staff at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As you know, we are the eleven trustees of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. We have conducted a thorough examination of all Professors, the curriculum and the classes that were taught between the days of last Monday and Tuesday. We sat in each class where we listened and observed to share the experiences of our students. In addition, with the help of several students whose names will remain anonymous, we were able to obtain memories of previous classes and from those, assess the Professors from an unbiased manner since the influence of us and the panel in the classroom may skew the teaching."

Dumbledore almost choked when he heard about the viewing of memories. He covered his mishap with a very unconvincing coughing fit that caught the odd stares of most of the audience.

"The extraction of memories is legal under our latest Decree – number 856 which was made a few weeks ago with the support of the majority. After a long week to assess and reassess our evidence collected, we have finally arrived at our final verdicts. Edward?"

Henry's dad stood up, his long elegant robes were a shade of dark green that matched his eyes. After pausing for a second, he removed a sealed envelope from his robe pocket. He broke open the seal, and unfolded the cream coloured piece of parchment within. He read it, "We, the Trustees of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, will declare the following: Professor Cuthbert Binns will be removed immediately from his teaching post of the outdated History of Magic Class due to his inability to interest his students and monitor the well-being of his students. All History of Magic Classes are hereby cancelled –"

There was a great rousing cheer and applause that rang out from every student table in the room, while the ghostly Professor who was actually sitting at the Great Hall for the first time in decades blinked at the decision.

"Until we further revise the syllabus and recruit a suitable Professor for the new proposed class: Wizarding History and Politics. We feel that it is imperative for our youth to have the historical perspective on how our Society came to be, and of course, an understanding of current events – both at home, and internationally."

"We did it!" Terry exclaimed gleefully to the rest of the occupants of the table, drawing odd looks from the Gryffindors nearby. He was glad that all the hard work on behalf of the Ravens and Snakes had paid off with the accomplishment of their initial objective.

"What d'ya mean we did it?" Fred Weasley looked curiously at the Ravenclaw.

Neville intercepted with a whisper towards the twins, "I will tell you later when we work on Project X."

"Ooh. Neville's got something up his sleeve – Project X apparently," Anthony whispered to Blaise who passed it on to Hannah. It had become common knowledge in the group that the Hallows' Eve prank had been pulled by their own Neville Longbottom.

Neville shot an apologetic look at the twins, who nodded reassuringly.

"It's alright, Nev – they know we were up to no good anyways." George grinned and winked slyly at their youngest conspirator.

Albus Dumbledore was already thinking up potential shoddy candidates for the new History and Politics position. If students were allowed access to all this historical and political knowledge, there'd be chaos and new Dark Lords rising. No, for the Greater Good, Albus reasoned, it's necessary to keep the next generation under the dark and the decisions left to their elders and betters.

"Professor Sibyl Trelawney will also be removed from her position as Divination Professor for her own inabilities to See the future, and what we discern as an alcohol addiction after..." Edward made a grimace, "A trustee's discovery of multiple recently emptied sherry bottles and an unacceptable blood alcohol level was found shortly afterwards with the Alcohol Blood Level detection spell administered under Decree 75 regarding substance abuse. Furthermore, the subject of Divination, after much discussion of the Trustees, is now hereby removed, as the course is only useful to the few gifted with the Inner Eye. We recommend that a little section on the history of Divination be added to the new integrated History and Politics course. Also, the Divination OWLs and NEWTs will be continued to be offered at the Ministry until further notice."

There was very limited reaction from the students, with the exception of the distraught expression of some of Trelawney's upper year students. However, Professor Trelawney cried out, "No! This can't be! I've been teaching here for over a decade! Albus!" She shot the Headmaster a pitiful look. Albus could only look helplessly at his Seer.

"You may still live in the castle, Sibyl."

"No...! this is insulting!" Trelawney gathered the tatters of her pride, "I will go and find a place where I am wanted!"

Albus looked grim, "Sibyl, please... we can discuss this later... It's important."

"Well, good riddance to that," Henry whispered to Blaise, "I've always thought that subject was a little what do you call it? – dodgy."

"Professor Severus Snape will be placed on probation." Edward continued after the former Divination Professor recomposed herself. "For reasons including unnecessary harshness bordering on cruelty and bullying towards students not of his own House. Also as of now, Professor Vector will assume the position as Head of Slytherin House. Professor Snape," Edward turned towards the Teachers' table and made eye contact with the unfazed Potions Professor, "You will be reassessed at the end of the year and the years following that until we feel that you are up to par to the standards fitting of a Professor in a world-class school."

There were cheers from the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, but the Slytherin table remained in stunned silence at the announcement.

Well, all except for Draco.

"How dare they put my Godfather on probation? My father would have never allowed it!" Draco's complaints fell on deaf ears as everyone at the table was riveted to what Edward had to say.

Severus Snape merely quirked his eyebrow at the assessment, and took a sip of his coffee. His job of teaching dunderheads wasn't too important for him – he had accepted the position as a favour to Dumbledore and had found few students that were deserving of his expertise. He could have easily found himself a lucrative and more enjoyable job in brewing and researching Potions with his background and explain his Dark Mark away as a folly of his youth like all the other former followers. He took the moment to reflect how differently his life could have been had he taken a different avenue.

_This was after all, all for her. _

_Her son._

Severus then thought about the simple oath he had sworn to the Headmaster over a decade ago. It mentioned loyalty to her and her son, but never explicitly to the Headmaster himself. Seeing that the boy of interest had neglected show up for his first year... Maybe, it was time to pursue a new course of action to better fulfill his promise. Merlin be damned, if he was going to waste anymore of his life with classes full of ingredient wasting, cauldron exploding idiots and senile manipulative old men. With all of Dumbledore's failings that had transpired in the past months, including his annoyance at the members of the Order of the Phoenix's failure to locate the Golden Boy, Severus was beginning to see hints of Dumbledore's true colours.

Henry mused to Hermione thoughtfully, "I reckon our old Head of House wasn't sacked due to Lucius' influence. Couldn't talk them out of the probation and his Head of House demotion though, I bet."

"Pity." Hermione whispered back, "I was looking forward to a new Potions Professor with a slightly better attitude."

Blaise chuckled, taking a second to appreciate the implications had their Potions Master been sacked, "Well, we just got History of Magic off. I don't think they want us to slack too much."

"You've got a point there mate," Stephen nodded.

"Finally, in lieu of Divination classes, the two classes of Wizarding Economics and Law will be restarted during the next school year. These course offerings will be added to the choices for our next generation of third years and older years may choose to partake these new offerings. And lastly, we the Trustees have debated and have unanimously agreed to strip Albus Dumbledore out of his right to hire new teachers –"

"No!" Albus couldn't stop the single syllable from slipping out.

"Our Headmaster doesn't look too happy, doesn't he?" Hannah remarked to Anthony who chuckled at their Headmaster's temporary loss of composure.

"Under Decree 27, if a Headmaster has shown a track record of hiring unsuitable teachers, the Board of Governors may appoint a Trustee to hire acceptable teachers. With the hiring of Professor Trelawney and the DADA position problems, there is enough evidence to enforce number twenty-seven. We would like to thank all the Professors that we've assessed that have been proven to be invaluable members of our establishment. Thank you for taking time to listen to these new changes, and we sincerely apologize for the late dormancy of the Board for these past decades. We will re-establish Hogwarts' prestigious status around the globe, and I hope you will join us in our endeavours. Good day."

There was loud applause from every table in the room, while Dumbledore looked almost murderously at the eleven people who had thrown the latest monkey wrenches into his plans for the Greater Good. The results from the assessment were the last things he needed on top of his other problems, including a missing boy-who-lived, a missing Philosopher's Stone, Nicolas' anger, Molly's nagging and the soul fragments of one Lord Voldemort.

_Maybe Nicolas really did have a point – I am slipping._

* * *

Forest Malfoy stood in front of a steaming gold cauldron, stirring the fluid that had the consistency of goo within slowly with a glass rod, his long dark hair tied back in a ponytail. Remus, who stood next to the wooden board used for chopping ingredients, was pulling the leaves off several specially dried aconite plants in anticipation of the next step written on the whiteboard hanging on the closest wall. The werewolf had taken to acting as Forest's assistant when it came to brewing and Forest hoped that Remus could someday make his own Wolfsbane.

Rosalind, who was interested in all the odd things the humans around her were doing, sat on the lab bench behind the men, her hind claws gripping the edge of the table. She was learning slowly on how to communicate with the humans around her because it was rather inconvenient for Harry to serve as the translator all the time, by awkwardly gripping a Muggle marker with her hand and spelling out her needs on the whiteboards around the flat in the English she had picked up or scratching words or pictures onto hard surfaces with her formidable claws. She also found herself understanding bits and pieces of the spoken human language, and it was always good to know when her den mates were talking about her. In fact, she often listened in on Hadrian's lessons taught by the man-that-brews and the wolf-man.

When the odour of the contents of the cauldron assaulted her nostrils, she flapped her wings in an attempt to move the odoriferous molecules away from her.

_And people thought dragons smelled bad..._

"How can you stand that stench without a charm?" Remus asked Forest a question that Rosalind was dying to know. In fact, she wished snake-tongue human was here to talk to her and translate her questions.

"Hang on, tricky step here. Pass the aconite leaves, won't you?" Forest started moving his rod in a complex series of stirring, and Remus was surprised to see the unsightly blobby substance turn into a pale pink watery type of fluid.

The werewolf dutifully passed on the leaves, which Forest counted five and returned the rest of the handful to the werewolf. He dropped the leaves in slowly, mixing two turns clockwise and three turns counter clockwise per leaf dropped in. The liquid immediately turned clear, and bubbled violently.

"Now, if I've done this right," Forest took a far step away from the steam, "It will boil quietly for the next five minutes."

"And if not?" Remus wisely removed himself from the vicinity of the pot.

"Well..." Forest looked amused, "It will –"

**Boom!**

Remus almost jumped at the sound, while Rosalind leapt into the air, her scaly and barbed tail knocked over a series of plastic containers containing mundane reagents like sodium chloride (aka table salt). She let out a surprised roar, but immediately swooped down to pick up the bottles.

_Never let it be said that Dragons are messy creatures._

"Explode."

"Bloody hell! What was that Potion you just fucked up there?" Remus looked bewildered. This was actually the first exploding cauldron that he had seen since his days back at Hogwarts. He sighed at the rush of memories.

Forest laughed, "That, my dear Remus, was our first attempt at Philosopher's Stone making. I actually didn't expect to get this far. Our Arithmancy must be better than I thought it was."

"Ugh. Sure didn't look like one." Remus looked distastefully at the mess.

"That's because there's still a long way to go." Forest said, just as Tonks walked in with Hadrian and Harry in tow.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Tonks looked at the scene of the explosion.

"Daddy made something go ka-boom!" Hadrian exclaimed excitedly, the wreckage around him amused him greatly. He ran eagerly to the scene of disaster.

Forest grinned sheepishly and grabbed his wand from the bench behind him, "Oh, nothing. _Reparo._"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Hadrian yelled happily and enthusiastically.

The golden cauldron repaired itself, while the Potions Master retrieved a small plastic bag and a pair of tweezers. He used the tweezers to gently pick up some of the exploded solid fragments that the Potion had spewed out and placed them in the Ziploc bag before vanishing the rest of the mess with a flick of his wand.

"No it wasn't," Tonks insisted, "I've never heard a cauldron explode in here during the months I've been here – what were you lot brewing?"

"Hmm..." Harry examined the scene of carnage, "Golden cauldron, glass stir rod, and some dried aconite..."

"It was the first attempt to make the Philosopher's Stone." Forest finally explained, as he used a Muggle permanent marker to label PS #1 and the date on the bag, "Frankly, we got a little further than I thought we did. The beginning setup to make the Stone is really complicated and requires some practice."

"Why did you keep the fragments?" Tonks asked.

"Just to make sure the recipe we've hashed out so far is right. And to see what went wrong." Forest explained, "Not that I can tell too much from these slivers. But if I do this again, and the same thing happens, it's probably a recipe error than a human one."

"And you didn't tell me that you were making your first attempt today?" Harry looked crestfallen, "Forest!"

"Sorry Harry, I decided to do it after Remus and I gave up on staring at dusty old parchments earlier. Plus this was more of a way to check if we were on the right track – the pink liquid we got before the cauldron exploded looked promising..."

"Oh well, tell me next time, won't you?"

"Of course." Forest nodded, pulling out a notebook nearby and started documenting his observations from the experimental brew with a plain eagle-feathered quill.

"Can we go outside today?" Hadrian pleaded to everyone, "Please?"

"I guess so," Harry looked at the young boy, "No messing about with the puddles – keep your magic to yourself."

_;. Oy, Snake-boy! I want to go outside too! .;_

"Okay, Harry!" Hadrian grinned eagerly.

Harry looked amused at Rosalind. _;. Isn't it a little risky? .;_

_;. I am a Dragon! I need big open space, sky, fresh air... Do that invisible thing and let me go outside with you and water-boy! I will behave! I will even call you Harry! .;_

_;. Fine Rosalind, but stay near me! .;_ Harry conceded, groaning that he would have to supervise a little wild water mage and a usually homebound and invisible dragon.

* * *

"Neville! Blaise! Come look!" Henry shouted excitedly when he reached a rectangular, old and weathered wooden table located at the corner of the smallest Greenhouse of the eight that stood on the grounds.

Neville strode briskly to Henry passing the battered tables containing the various pots and trays which held projects from the upper years, and ducking under the long swaying tentacles of a large flitterbloom. Blaise lagged behind brushing off half melted snow from his clothes.

"What is it, Henry?" Neville asked.

"We have a leaf!" Henry grinned rather crazily. Actually, Henry himself couldn't believe how happy he was over a plant.

"Let me see!" Blaise caught up, and all three boys peered down at the tiny ceramic brown pot that was full of the finest soil Neville could find in their classroom. A tiny green tendril with the smallest leaf Blaise had ever seen in his life had emerged from the soil.

Henry looked at the other pots on the table that held all the first year plants. They were all barren. "Merlin, ours was the first to sprout, Neville!"

Neville shrugged, "Well, different seeds have different germination times – we could've been lucky that Professor Sprout gave us a quick emerging plant."

"Doesn't matter! We are still first!" Henry exclaimed happily while exchanging a high-five with an equally jubilant Blaise.

"What? Your seed sprouted already, Neville?"

All three turned around to see Dean looking forlornly at his own bare pot. Ronald who had been behind him examined the growth in his fellow classmates' pot with envy, "Blimey, their plant is out already! This sucks! Where's Seamus?"

Neville looked curiously at his fellow Housemates' pot, and experimentally dipped his fingers into the soil. It felt rather arid under his expert fingers.

"Have you guys been watering your plant? The soil is very dry for something that's supposed to be watered every one to two days."

Dean and Ronald looked at each other oddly. "Did you water it at all last week?"

"Bloody hell, Dean – I thought you said you were going to water it."

Dean protested, "I watered our plant the week before last week - everyday! We agreed to split the watering! Did you water our plant... at all last week, Ron? That was supposed to be your week!"

Ronald shook his head.

"Ron, it's a bloody plant! It needs water to grow!" Dean looked pissed.

Ronald pulled out a fat and inert rat from his robe pocket, "Well, Scabbers never needed any water or food from me..."

"Bloody hell, mate! Scabbers is an animal! He can move around to get water and food!" Dean was running out of patience.

"Hey, Weasley," Blaise interrupted the stewing argument, "Scabbers is missing a toe on his front paw..."

Ronald held up his rat, eager to have a diversion and jumped into his rat's history, "Yeah, he's had that toe missing since I got him from Percy a while back. Percy said that old Scabbers here has been missing the toe ever since he showed up ten years ago -"

"Ron! I am not done with you here, mate!"

As the two Gryffindor boys continued to bicker, Neville mused to Blaise, "Wow, those were the most civil words Ronald Weasley has ever had with a Slytherin."

"To be honest, I don't even know why I said what I did. Maybe my subconscious wanted to save Weasley's arse?" Blaise said with great amusement, "Not that I would consciously ever."

"I am impressed." Henry grinned in mock approval, "Did that Weasley say that the rat has been in his family for a decade?"

"Hey, you lot!" Su Li entered the warm greenhouse. She immediately removed her fluffy hat, scarf and mittens and stuffed them down her robe pockets, "It's snowing outside! What's with them?" She pointed at Dean and Ronald, who were sulkily tending to their plant.

Blaise shrugged, "Hermione and Padma didn't come with you?"

"Nope... I lost at rock-paper-scissors." Su sighed, as she grabbed one of many watering cans from beneath a bench. She filled the can with water from a tap nearby before making her way over to all the other first years. She watered her green-less pot.

"Merlin, you guys already have your plant! Do you have any idea what it is yet?"

Neville shook his head, "Actually nope... I can't remember what book I was reading when I saw those seeds. I have the picture from the Herbology book in my mind, but I can't read any of the words on the page!"

"Aw," Su looked sympathetically at Neville, "Hermione reckons our plant is some species of Astriam, based on the seeds and Padma agrees with her."

"What is that?" Henry asked Neville.

"Oh, an Astriam is a family of plants that produces star-shaped flowers of various colours. Most species are generally harmless, and its petals are a common Potions ingredient. Hermione borrowed an old second year Herbology textbook from the library and we found some pictures of the seeds there." Su explained, before Neville could open his mouth, "It's rather ordinary but pretty."

"So, you guys know roughly what your plant is –" Henry stated.

"But your plant sprouted!" Su finished, "So I think, we are on equal footing here."

"Do you think there's enough snow for a fight?" Henry asked Blaise as he began to put on his own Slytherin scarf, and mittens, "It started snowing pretty hard just as we went into the greenhouse."

"Definitely," Su grinned at the question, a mischievous light intensified her brown eyes, "But it's getting really dark though."

"We'll see about that," Henry was already heading towards the door, with his three friends trailing behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Hannah, you should really look at this!" Blaise pushed his copy of the Daily Prophet across the cherry wood table in the Room of Requirement. The room had undergone some minor changes since its original conception, with the inclusion of some stained glass windows of Hannah's design to allow in some natural light, a bigger duelling space and a far fancier washroom complete with a luxurious pool that would rival any Prefects' bathroom. The pool was imagined up by the Ravenclaw trio, after Terry had 'accidentally' overheard a conversation among several upper years.

Hannah, who had been idly twirling her osprey feathered quill while reading an Agatha Christie mystery looked up from her paperback and peered over the offered parchment. Ever since the cancellation of History of Magic, she found that she had a lot more leisure time to pursue old hobbies. Henry, Hermione and Neville who were the other occupants of the table, despite not being called upon, also leaned over, ditching their essays on Potions.

_**Mystifying Disappearance of the Boy-Who-Lived**_

_**An exclusive scoop by our own Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent**_

_Barely over a decade ago, Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, vanquished He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and lifted our society free from an era of suspicion and fear. Little is known about the boy in the years following but it was expected that the heir of the Most Noble and Courageous House of Potter would attend Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as the boy's ancestors have done for centuries. Imagine to the surprise of many, when the saviour of our world, failed to show up for the traditional Sorting earlier in September. This twist of events has led to an investigation carried out by the Daily Prophet to determine the whereabouts of the elusive boy. _

"_I was looking forward to making friends with Potter." says Draco Malfoy rather disappointedly, the son of the fabulously wealthy and influential Lucius Malfoy who is currently in his first year, the year our young saviour would have been in had he shown up to Hogwarts. Upon speaking to several Aurors at the Ministry, one Auror, who wishes to remain anonymous, had another twist for our story. "The Ministry has no information, whatsoever, regarding the whereabouts of Mr. Harry James Potter. It is, however, known that Albus Dumbledore was involved in his placement after the murder of the Potters."_

_Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, has been at the heart of many controversial and eccentric decisions over the years both internationally, and at home. Most recently, a full scale investigation of Professors and classes offered at Hogwarts has been conducted – see full details on page 4, resulting in the removal of Cuthbert Binns, Professor of the notoriously yawn-inducing and outdated History of Magic class and Sibyl Trelawney, Divination Professor, and the probation of Severus Snape, ex-Death Eater and Potions Master of Hogwarts._

Upon finishing, Neville, Hannah and Hermione all burst into fits of laughter, while a baffled Henry gawked at his friends. Blaise snickered too.

"Umm... I hope it's not the last paragraph that has you lot in stitches. I mean its old news that Binns is boring. And the assessment was so last month!" Henry tried to make sense of his friends' merriment.

After a few awkward seconds later, with more hysterics from his not-helpful-friends, Henry took the _Daily Prophet_ and read it again, carefully.

"Bloody hell!" Henry exclaimed after much deep thought, "Is our friend Harry, the one and only Harry Potter?"

After being met with absolute silence from all four of his friends, Henry plunged onwards, "I mean, it's the only logical explanation for your laughter and I am not stupid –"

"Well, we were going to tell everyone at Christmas, with Harry present..." Neville looked sheepishly at Henry.

Blaise caught his best friend's skeptical look, "I am serious! We were! But I found that article so funny..."

"You won't tell, would you?" Hermione looked concerned, her eyes fixed intensely on her Slytherin friend.

Hannah sighed, "We didn't want to hide anything from everyone. But it was Harry's secret to tell, not ours."

"Blaise!" Henry singled out after giving everyone his kicked puppy look, "But you tell me all your secrets! And I tell you all of mine! Have I ever spilled the beans?"

"Well..." Blaise smiled humorously, ignoring the intended guilt trip. He knew all of Henry's tricks. "There was that one time when your mother offered her pumpkin pie in exchange for certain, specific, information..."

"Hey! I was seven. And you know... Pie..." Henry looked wistful, "I can't wait till we all go back home for Christmas..."

Hermione interrupted, knowing from the past what the simple mention of dessert made by Henry's mother could do to a conversation involving both Henry and Blaise, "So, providing that no one offers you a pie –"

"Hermione, Hermione! I've learned my lesson! Blaise's cold shoulder almost gave me frostbite and lasted weeks!" Henry cut in, "I won't sell my friend out for a pie or anything!"

"You better not," Blaise mock glared at his best friend, who gave him a hurt look.

"You know what's really hilarious about this article?" Hannah mused as she shifted the conversation to safer topics.

Hermione grabbed the newspaper from Henry and took another quick skim, "Let me guess, the bit about Draco?"

"Pompous little brat, isn't he? Think he's entitled to befriend the boy who beat Voldie?" Henry added.

"Little does he know it, actually," Hannah continued with a big smile, "Draco and Harry actually met, at Borgin and Burkes. That went so well..."

"We were there. Harry almost hexed the prat." Blaise elaborated with a grin, "That was the day when Hermione and Hannah got their wands too, from what I remember."

"Pity I missed it," Neville and Henry remarked simaultaneously, before sharing a look and laughing.

The familiar sound of the plain wooden door that led into their hideout swinging open brought the conversation to a halt. Anthony, Terry, and Stephen walked in and headed towards the far corner where a copper cauldron sat on top of a Potions bench, while carrying out their conversation.

"I am so glad we don't have History anymore." Stephen was heard saying, "Thank Merlin..."

Anthony agreed as he gently tossed a sack onto the black surface of the Potions bench, "Yeah, this time, a week ago, we were sitting through another two hour snooze fest of Binns and resorting to playing Go Fish at the back since we burned through our entire stock of games."

"We should head to a Muggle store during the holidays and buy some Muggle board games and keep them in the Room." Stephen suggested. "They are actually loads of fun."

"Like Monopoly!" Anthony smiled fondly at memories from a few days ago when Su snuck her set into the Room for them to play. "Geez, who knew our Hannah, was such a competitive fiend!"

Back at the table, Hannah looked rather embarrassed. Blaise winced, as Hannah had pelted her friend with several of the green plastic houses after he had bought the last Railroad, ruining her devious plans to get the entire set. It didn't matter, as Hannah ended up cleaning everyone out, and winning big. The other three friends shared a grin.

"Oy, Hermione!" Terry called out excitedly after spotting the five at one of the several tables, "We got all the ingredients! Hey guys!" The Ravenclaw looked apologetically at the rest of the table that they had neglected.

"Did you guys? Some of that stuff looked expensive!" Hermione exclaimed, as she stood up from her chair and strode towards her fellow Ravenclaws. Terry was removing various ingredients from the bag, and passing them onto Anthony and Stephen, who dutifully put them away in the blue painted stainless steel cabinets underneath the brewing area.

"It's amazing how you can order anything via Owl Order these days." Anthony remarked cheerfully, which was immediately followed by Terry's grumpier musings, "At amazingly inflated prices and delivery fees too! I footed the bill this time!"

"I think we need someone to manage money around here," Stephen looked thoughtful, "Like keep track of costs and things. Henry's spent quite a bit on Animagi books and stuff like that."

"Well, I guess we aren't special." Neville joked to the other three that were left at the table.

"No, we aren't." Blaise sighed, "Oh well, at least Anthony didn't ask me to help brew the Potion. It looked complicated when I saw the recipe they wanted to try out. Got to be at least a sixth year potion."

"Animagi Potion from the _Ways of the Animagi_?" Henry inquired thinking about the only Potion he had come across through his extensive Animagi research, "That Potion only has a ten percent success rate, providing you brew it properly."

"Think of this way," Hannah said rather thoughtfully, "We're a group of over ten people. If this Potion can help one or even two of us turn into an Animagus, it's definitely worth it. People try for years to achieve their form."

"Well, we will find out soon." Henry started packing up his stuff, as did Blaise and Hannah, "Potion only takes nine days to brew."

"If nothing goes wrong, that is." Hannah added, "But it probably won't. Hermione and the word failure do not go together in the same sentence."

"Well, it just did!" Henry teased and ducked, while Hannah playfully and repeatedly swung her Charms text towards the shorter Slytherin's head, while exclaiming loudly, "You know what I meant!"

"See you later, Neville, and you Ravenclaw bunch!" Blaise yelled the last bit at the busy group of people, ignoring the drama between Hannah and Henry as he headed towards the door. Anthony had just lit the flame underneath the cauldron, while Hermione was using _Aguamenti_ to fill a beaker with exactly one litre of water. Terry was busy cubing a strange root-like plant while Stephen watched. All four looked up to wave good-bye.

"Have fun in Charms," Neville grinned, "We will stay here for our DADA period. Can you guys bring some food on the way back?"

"Alright then," Hannah agreed.

"Lucky Ravens and Gryffs!" Henry muttered on the way out to Hannah as they hurried to catch up to Blaise, "Those guys get a double History period and a DADA period off – on the same day!"

* * *

Harry yawned as he sat down at his dining table. It was early morning, and all was quiet. He summoned several pieces of parchment from his bedroom covered in Runes with a few Chinese characters thrown in. He subtly moved his finger, and a textbook that had been sitting at the other end of the table slid towards him. It was entitled: _Chinese Runic Applications_. After encountering the No-Magic barrier that Ivan had erected weeks ago, he had decided that he was going to make his own.

But before he could dive into his work, he was interrupted by Tonks, who had been up before him, with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand and an issue of the Prophet in her other hand. Her hair today was a shocking shade of teal, but she wore it in a simple big braid.

"Morning, Harry! Have you seen the Daily Prophet today?"

Harry shook his head.

"No? You've got to see it!" Tonks dropped the paper on top of Harry's work.

Harry's eyes widened at the headlining article, and he quickly skimmed the paragraphs underneath. He laughed heartily when he reached Draco's statement, remembering a certain day a few years ago, and frowned when he read the part about Dumbledore.

"Well. That's fascinating." Harry reflected and stated sardonically, "Wizarding Britain finally gives a shit about where I am. They didn't seem to care when I was having fun with the Dursleys."

"Actually," Tonks replied after thinking for a bit, "Even though I was a kid when You-Know-Who disappeared, I remember that the Wizarding World was very interested in your whereabouts. Now that I think about it, it got all hushed-hushed by Dumbledore, who said you were in a safe place."

"Bah." Harry made a face of disgust, "Everything gets hushed up by our favourite Headmaster."

"But what I don't understand..." Tonks took back the Daily Prophet and reread a portion, "Is how Skeeter got the information from the Aurors? There is really stringent confidentiality regulations on what is to be publicized and what is to be kept under wraps. It's a good thing she cited that it was anonymous but there might be an internal investigation on how this breach occurred. Especially with the trial coming up..."

Harry looked sharply at Tonks, "What trial?"

"Oh shit." Tonks frowned, "That was supposed to be private too. But I will tell you. There's going to be a magical trial for the Dursleys in front of the Wizengamot next year."

"Wait, what?" Harry was flabbergasted, "How did they know about... You didn't submit those memories did you?"

"No." Tonks shook her head, "Someone else did. Amelia said she couldn't divulge the identity of the person or people who did so. This is why Lucius' request for a Harry Hunt is being delayed till further notice. You do realize, Harry, that you are a very important person in Wizarding Britain, and this case will be high-profile."

"Bloody hell..." Harry sighed, "It's hard to reconcile that I am 'famous' in this world. Honestly, with all the shit that's happened to me, sometimes, I don't really give a damn on what happens. Sacrificing a little boy's right to have..."

Tonks gave Harry a sympathetic look, "No, I agree with you. The Wizarding World has done you a disservice and it isn't right to lay the burden of their mistakes on a boy. The Aurors were ill-equipped to deal with the Death Eaters during the First War."

"But I also kind of care, because of my friends," Harry said, after a contemplative silence had fallen between the two, "I want to make Britain a better place for everyone... even dragons, but I want to do so, on my own terms."

"Which is why we are here, Harry," Tonks smiled, "We will watch and wait, and when we can interfere..."

"We will be there." Harry finished, turning his attention back to oriental spirals, and runic pentagrams.

* * *

**A/N: **I was intending to wrap up the Hogwarts business for the year so we could get to the convergence of Harry's group and the Hogwarts lot (got loads of plans for that), but this turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated.

Review?


	25. XXV - Intuition

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Don't own.

* * *

**Chapter XXV - Intuition**

In late December, towards the end of the year's term, Henry eagerly dashed around the Room of Requirement, his arms laden with envelopes. He dropped an envelope in front of each of the industrious Ravenclaws who were determined to finish their large Transfiguration essay and project that were due the next day, an envelope each near the ground beside Blaise and Hannah, who were working on _Stupefy _and _Ennervate_ which were the next topics that Professor Flitwick had suggested as topics of study in the New Year for the Club, a stack of three for Millicent, Daphne and Tracey who were flipping through various Herbology texts and finally four in front of Neville, who was writing something down on a piece of parchment that looked suspiciously like math.

Henry could have sworn he saw the word Dungbomb written somewhere on the parchment, but he figured some things were better left unasked.

"Umm... Henry? Why do I get four?" Neville took one of the envelopes and broke the old-fashioned seal attached. He pulled out the expensive creamy and smooth parchment within and read.

Master E. Winters & Mistress A. Winters

Cordially invites _ to the Winters' Christmas Ball,

Which will be held at Winterwind (The Winters' Manor) starting at 4 PM,

On the dates of December 25 & 26,

Lodgings will be provided,

Please respond by the 20th (letters addressed to Nestor) so the Floo wards and other accommodations may be made in advance. Please bring this invitation with you.

"I thought George, Lee and Fred would like to come." Henry winked at Neville.

Neville smiled broadly, "Thanks, Henry, I am sure they would be ecstatic – a few days ago, they were complaining about going home to the never-ending lectures of their mom."

Daphne exclaimed when the significance of the invitations dawned upon her, "Bloody hell, it's your father's year to host the Ball? I thought it was the Parkinsons!"

"Mr. Parkinson and my father apparently decided to switch years." Henry answered back, "Oh, and Blaise –"

"Yeah, Henry?" Blaise had just revived Hannah for the umpteenth time.

"Someone should pass these on to Harry." Henry counted six envelopes, "It was six, wasn't it?"

"Yeah – last time I checked," Blaise nodded, "I'll pass them on."

"I hope it won't be as dull as last year..." Tracey frowned, "It was held at the Malfoys – and Merlin, wasn't that a yawnfest! The people were bores, the entertainment almost non-existent and the House Elves frightened out of their wits!"

"So, how come our names aren't formally written in these things?" Terry asked while pointing to the line on his invitation, "Mom's not going to be too happy that I am ditching Christmas for this."

Henry sighed, "Just write in your damned own name in yourself."

"Terry," Daphne called out to the Ravenclaw sitting at the other cherry wood table, "One does not refuse the invitation of Master Winters – plus most of the rich and influential people of Britain and a few other places usually come. People usually beg to get invitations."

"And my father is pretty selective about who he invites to parties. He likes 'fun' in his parties. I remember my father got us out of going to Malfoys' party because he said it was going to be – to quote him – dull." Henry continued, "Usually he ends up inviting more than he wants to because mom intervened."

Hermione perked up as she remembered something. "Isn't the Potion finished today?"

"What Potion?" Millicent asked, curiously.

Terry answered, "Our Animagi one."

"Yeah, the three day simmering period just ended this morning. I've already decanted all the liquid and was waiting for all you lot to show up." Anthony said as he walked over to the steel cabinet. He opened the door and with his wand, levitated several glass flasks containing a clear liquid that looked exactly like water and moved them to the table occupied by the Ravenclaws.

"Mind you, looks just like water..." Blaise looked skeptically at the brews.

"So, do we... like... just drink it?" Su picked up a flask, and swished it, watching the liquid drip down the unbreakable glass insides.

"Yeah." Terry nodded. "So who wants to go first?"

"I will." Hermione offered, "I brewed most of it, so I guess..." She popped off the stopper and drank the liquid. "Flavourless... Hmm... that's strange."

"What is it?" Henry asked, noting that nothing really had changed.

"My mouth has a woody taste, like I just chewed a Muggle pencil or something..." Hermione shrugged, looking a bit disgusted, "Maybe it's the Potion's aftertaste? I guess. Anthony – you try!"

"Here goes nothing!" The blond haired and browned eyed Ravenclaw eyed the liquid wearily. He swallowed the liquid down in a gulp. "Merlin, tastes like bloody water! How anticlimactic!"

The Ravenclaw suddenly felt really disorientated, and almost fell over, but Blaise managed to catch the boy before he toppled over. Anthony blinked for a bit, before regaining equilibrium. He had the vague impression that his arms had been covered with feathers for a split second.

Blaise conjured some cushions around the area they were all standing around, just in case someone else pulled an Anthony.

One rather showy long blue feather seemed to emerge out of nowhere and drifted onto the table, next to Anthony's recently emptied flask. Neville picked it up.

"Looks like that's your clue," Neville mused, "Unless you also had woody aftertaste?"

"Nope." Anthony shook his head. "But I will definitely go look up what bird that feather came off of. Might help with the mentality of the thing – y'know."

Then Su tried, as did Terry, Padma and Stephen, but nothing seeming of significance seem to happen to the four Ravenclaws. Hannah drank hers too and had an aftertaste of seafood, while Neville reported having a fishy flavour in his mouth. Millicent had the sensation of feeling tiny, while Daphne was left with the impression that she had eaten a very rare steak. Nothing happened for Tracey, while Blaise could almost swear that his left arm had been covered in green scales.

"Well, I guess I am left," Henry mused, "Looks like Anthony here was the winner of our ten-percent lottery."

Anthony waved his own feather triumphantly at Henry's announcement.

"Get on with it, already!" Hermione groaned in impatience.

"Alright... Alright! Here goes nothing!" Henry closed his eyes and poured the liquid down his throat. He was disappointed when he felt no sense of dizziness, and he couldn't taste anything in his mouth.

"Fucking Merlin! You've got a sodding tail!" Terry exclaimed, "See!"

Henry craned his neck around to see a strange thick and furry serpent like thing behind him. It was covered with a light covering of fur that ranged from white to orange, with black stripes. With amusement, Henry realized that he had control over his new piece of anatomy and playfully swiped it at Blaise who grabbed it.

"Hey!" Henry tried yanking his new feature out of the boy's grasp.

"Well, you are definitely a tiger." Su looked at the tail with great interest, "And Blaise, let him go!"

"It's not every day where you get to catch a tiger by the tail." Blaise finally released his grip on Henry's tail.

"Thank you." Henry then paused for a while and then realized something, his tail curling into a question mark shape, "Shit! How do I get rid of this bloody tail? I can't leave the Room with it!"

There was laughter all around.

* * *

On a blustery cold day, Harry strode quietly through the snow dusted streets of the infamous Knockturn Alley alone, his bare hands tucked into his cloak pockets. The last rays of sun for the day faintly illuminated the tight alleyways, and Harry spread his magic-sense throughout the area. Cautiously, he navigated through the labyrinth, towards the centre of Knockturn Alley, avoiding eye-contact with any strangers he walked past, his cloaked and hooded figure an uninteresting target. He caught the glimpse of a werewolf, distinguished by familiar dark tangles circulating through a woman's bloodstream, and other individuals that Harry was sure were non-human, judging by their odd magical composition.

After walking a while, he was soon greeted by the sight of magically floating candlelit oriental lanterns of all shapes and colours, brightly coloured pennants strung on long slender ropes and a growing hubbub of activity as the vendors of the semi-annual Knockturn Alley Night Market set up their wares. Harry knew from Ivan that the Ministry had almost no control over the happenings of this night. There weren't enough Aurors in Wizarding Britain to deal with the chaos and the most they could do was send one or two to monitor the situation and pick up on leads the next day. This was also the place and time to acquire almost any illegal object one could possibly think of. Before immersing himself into the throngs of individuals, Harry discreetly snapped his fingers, and a tendril of fire shaped itself into a bird that took off far above the crowd to alert an on-duty Tonks of his arrival.

Harry glanced at the various stalls that had already set up, and the first thing that caught his attention was a beautiful set of knives, kept in a leather roll. Without bothering to ask the vendor, a squat and short wizard who Harry guessed was part Goblin, he picked up one of the blades by its exquisitely carved ivory handle. The metal of the blade was tainted bluish and experimentally, Harry conjured a wooden sphere, tossed it upwards, and used the largest knife to slice it into neat quarters before the wood hit the ground.

"Hey, you!" The part-Goblin man shouted at Harry, dismayed that someone was using his expensive merchandise in such a way, "Put that down before you break it – I don't think you can affor-"

"How much?" Harry replied coolly, annoyed with the man's judging whether a person could afford something through appearance. As he asked, Harry examined the knives with magic, to ensure that there was no funny business. He also probed the man lightly with Legilimency, to ensure he wasn't going to be ripped off. Harry had gotten proficient enough at probing that he no longer needed to make eye-contact, but he still wielded his skills with caution, never delving further than necessary.

"Forty galleons..." The man looked surprised by Harry's question, "The knives are Goblin-made, and they will never wear or tarnish."

"Done," Harry extracted forty galleons with magic from one of magically expanded sacks in his pockets, and physically dumped the gold in front of the dumbstruck man. He then rolled up the leather, added it into his right cloak pocket, which contained another empty bag with an Expansion Charm and walked away without another word.

He focused on the goods rather than the people and creatures around him. He stopped by a Potions stall, and bought an assortment of exotic, illegal or heavily regulated ingredients. Some of those ingredients, Harry decided, would make a good Christmas present for Forest.

As he walked along the length of the Market, Harry's magic sense became aware that there was some being that was moving through the place at preternatural speed, stopping then and now at a random human, before taking off again. The process was way too fast for human vision to catch. He proceeded to not care, until he sensed the thing move near him, and dip down towards him. He caught the brief flash of pointed eyeteeth, and it clicked.

Before a drop of blood was spilt, the would-be-drinker was immediately engulfed in Harry's most vicious silvery flames. An unholy screech was emitted, but Harry really couldn't care less as he continued to walk onwards without breaking stride. He noticed that the attention was drawn towards the burning body, but not him, since he had seemingly done nothing in the eyes of the public.

_That was just deserts, anyhow._

He bought some other potential Christmas presents for his friends along the varied displays, not noticing that a hooded and cloaked man was observing him from afar after the incident. When Harry stopped a stall specializing in anything pertaining to Dragons, the man walked up to the boy, just as Harry was asking about Dragon skin.

"You wouldn't have had anything to do with the vampire?"

Harry was surprised that the speaker was none other than one Severus Snape.

"What vampire?" Harry did his best innocent impression and turned to look at the Potions Master.

"The one that coincidentally burst into flames when you walked by?" Severus almost gulped when he recognized the face looking at him. It was the boy who had all too easily shattered his Occlumency shields several years back. The large snake that had accompanied the boy was nowhere to be seen.

_What is he doing here, out of all places? _

"Ah." Harry barely acknowledged the Potions Master's statement, before turning his attention back to the dealer in front of him, "What's the price for that very interesting egg you have back there?"

Severus watched the proceedings quietly, wondering if the item of the boy's interest was indeed a Dragon's egg and finding himself oddly amused by the boy's audacity to evade his questioning.

The dealer, a lanky middle-aged man with long grizzled brown hair, turned ghostly pale at Harry's words. The egg that Harry had inquired about was hidden away from sight in a raggedy cardboard box behind the wooden display of goods.

"How d'ya know about that? I just bought that'un from another person about an hour ago!"

"Pay you double the price..." Harry offered silkily. He was well aware of the price that the man had paid.

"200 galleons."

"You got it for fifty from a Russian goblin named Igor," Harry pointed accusingly at the man, "And I know about that d–"

The gruff vendor looked completely unnerved and cut the boy off before any other secrets could be revealed. "Who the bloody fuck are you? Fine! Take it for seventy-five! And you can have that roll of Hungarian Horntail skin for ten galleons and seven sickles! Leave me the hell alone and keep that information to yourself – y'hear!"

Plunking down the money, Harry took a quick glance at the stone-like object that the frightened man had passed over. Unlike Rosalind's brown egg, this one shone iridescent silver and reflected the different coloured light shining through the lit paper lanterns that provided the lighting of the entire market. Ignoring Severus' awestruck gape, Harry placed the stone and roll of dragon leather in the same sack the knives and his innumerable other purchases had gone.

"It's rather foolish to flaunt all that wealth... at this place." Severus whispered his powers of speech returning back to him slowly.

Harry looked completely unconcerned by the sallow man's statement and continued onwards. Severus followed, his curiosity piqued. They passed stalls selling flying carpets, caged cobras, and strange coloured Potions, bubbling in ornate bottles.

"So... why are you following me?" Harry asked flatly, "I remember the good old days when you used to run the other way –"

"My apologies for the use of Legilimency on your person," Severus replied curtly, completely uncomfortable with the act of saying sorry, "I don't usually stick my probes into the business of others unless necessary, but I was horribly curious that day. Your snake – I take it – and you reminded me of days bygone."

"Voldemort." Harry said simply, his eyes resting ahead on a stall teaming with books that was at the far corner, ignoring his stalker's twitch at the casual mention of the Dark Lord's name. "So, why are you here?"

"I come every year." Severus said, thinking of years past, "It's where I replenish my own stores of ingredients. You should've worn this." The man summoned his own wand and conjured a simple black string, with a clove of garlic attached. "It keeps the vampires away. They have a quaint but apt name for tonight... The Winter Feast. They feed on the naive and the curious."

Harry tied the black string around his neck, after discerning that there was no magic embedded within the materials used.

"Vampires take today what they call, the quick drink." Severus explained further in his classroom voice, "They pick their victims throughout the crowd, run through with their superior agility, and take the quickest of draughts before sealing the wound off with a little bit of their own magical blood. That way, no one's the wiser."

"Does Albus know you are here?" Harry asked, abruptly changing the subject as they reached the books. Severus noticed the boy stared long and hard at a notorious Dark Arts text: _Magicks of the Blood_.

"That's a slippery path," Severus mused, "And no, he does not know. My personal life is of no concern to him."

"I don't think he owns this one," Harry said thoughtfully to himself – thinking about Remus, "Good Christmas present..."

"Strange choice of present," Severus noted humorously.

Harry paid for his purchases, and was interrupted by another familiar voice.

"Wotcher, Harry!"

"Hello Tonks," Harry pulled a sack out of his pocket and crammed his new books in, "You got my bird?"

"Yeah... It's kind of dull walking around here, actually – seeing over a year's worth of illegal activity in one night, but powerless to stop it." Tonks sighed, "Merlin, it's Professor Snape!"

Severus groaned when he saw the Metamorphagus. She had been one of his biggest headaches, with her klutzy behaviour breaking various apparatuses and ruining potions galore during her years at Hogwarts. Somehow, she had scrapped an O from her OWLs in Potions and Severus had been forced to endure her for two more years.

_Bloody hell, that Hufflepuff is an Auror? _

"Ms. Tonks." Severus acknowledged, and he had just realized that he did not even know the name of the boy he had been following for the past hour.

_Harry._

_That was the name of her boy._

"Well, my shift is going to be done in a minute," Tonks quickly cast a time spell, "Harry, why don't we go have dinner somewhere nice and respectable?"

"Japanese would be nice..." Harry suggested.

Tonks nodded, "Sounds like a lovely choice... Why don't we Apparate to Muggle London?"

"I better get on with my shopping," Severus dismissed himself from the pair. As Severus walked away he couldn't help thinking about the boy's eyes. This was the first time he had been close enough to observe the boy properly as he had always fled the other way in the past. Sure, lots of dark-haired Wizards had green eyes, but there had always been something special about her eyes.

_He had her eyes..._

_Could this be the Potter that everyone's been looking for?_

* * *

Severus Snape was fuming when he left the Great Hall in the morning with dung smears all over his usual black set of teaching robes. The source of this morning's migraines had come in the form of well-placed Dungbombs hidden underneath seemingly random seats throughout the entirety of the Great Hall. The younger students were desperately asking the older years for vanishing charms to remove the messes on their robes, while the older years were then dismayed to find that the dung could not be vanished by conventional means.

He had taken a look at the Gryffindor table then, to see if the usual bunch of hooligans were involved in this latest scheme, to find Fred Weasley frantically pointing his wand at his twin brother with the telltale swish of an _Evanesco_, in an attempt to remove the brown matter from the boy's shoulders and chest. He had been taken aback then, were the Weasley twins Slytherin enough to Dungbomb themselves to prevent detection?

He wasn't sure.

And, were they clever enough to charm the 'dung' to be non-vanishable? His brain said no, while his gut said yes. He knew that, even though Fred and George did horribly on any written test in Potions, their talent in the field was unmatched by anyone in their year. Through his years of observations, he had seen them tweak methodologies and recipes when they thought he was looking the other way. He had been astounded the first time when their methods yielded superior results. He might be what his students call an uncaring bastard, but he had his own ways of encouraging talent. In the case of the twins, he would subtly allow them to brew more innovative Potions, while the rest of the class brewed textbook-approved brews.

He often brought the fruits of the twins' labour to Madam Pomfrey. But it would be a cold day in hell before he was going to reveal that particular secret.

He went to his own quarters first, where he flung his dirty robes into the to-be-washed basket and changed into a fresh set. It was a pity that there wasn't any charm available to completely remove the stench of Dungbomb on his person. After a quick sip of a foul tasting green Potion to relieve the growing pain in his head, he elegantly made his way to his classroom, to prepare himself for teaching his traditionally most challenging class – first year Gryffindors and Slytherins.

He had to wait twenty minutes before the first student showed up. The Headmaster had given all the students an extra thirty minutes to go change into a fresh set of clothes. This led him to think about the mysterious boy he had followed back the other day in Knockturn Alley. He wasn't even sure if the boy was Potter's brat or not, despite the uncanny resemblance of the boy's eyes to her eyes.

But certainly, Severus knew that he would not tell Dumbledore about what his suspicions were. That would be incredibly un-Slytherin of him. He also knew that he needed to have a chat with Minerva and Filius to see if his thoughts on Albus Dumbledore have reached the same page as theirs.

It always seemed to him that they knew a hell of a lot more than he did.

* * *

"So, Harry, have you seen the Daily Prophet today?" Forest Malfoy, dressed in a forest green shirt and his usual pair of jeans, asked over the table laden with breakfast.

Harry stuck his fork containing a piece of sausage in his mouth and chewed while his brain formulated another sarcastic witticism.

_Let me guess... Rita Skeeter strikes again_.

"No, I haven't." Harry finally replied, "Might as well hand it over."

Forest handed his student the daily newspaper, and Harry found himself scanning the front page, once again.

_**Dumbledore in the Dark about our Saviour's Whereabouts**_

_**A Continuation of our earlier Scoop by Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent**_

_Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the Int'l Confed. Of Wizards and Headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry claims that he has no information regarding the whereabouts regarding Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived. It is noted that Albus Dumbledore, a decade ago, was quoted saying "Harry Potter is now located in a safe place where no wizard wishing to retaliate for the murder of *you-know-who* can find him. I reassure the entirety of the Wizarding World that the boy is safe and well-cared for until he is of age to attend Hogwarts." in an interview barely over a decade ago with the Daily Prophet. _

_There are rumors that our Chief Warlock is losing his touch. One old friend of Albus Dumbledore was quoted saying "Albus Dumbledore is slipping. His once brilliant ability to plan and execute his methods is decaying as I speak." Of course, said friend chose to remain anonymous, as he fears prosecution or retaliation from the Headmaster, who's high up the chain of political power in our society. _

_The feasibility of a nation-wide Harry Hunt has been studied and the Head of Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, has issued a statement saying that such a Hunt would be postponed until further notice after public uproar demanded that action should be taken to locate the young Harry Potter immediately after last week's publication regarding the boy's disappearance. No reason was offered by the Head, but judging by our Grand Sorcerer's dubious behaviour, our speculations lie within this line of reasoning. _

"Merlin, she's sinking her teeth into Dumbledore, that's for sure." Harry observed, "But, what I really do wonder, Forest... is how does she get all this dirt? Like about this 'friend' of Albus."

"Well, she could be making it up..." Forest mused, "But she could be sued for libel..."

"I am pretty sure there must be a method to her madness," It was Tonks who interrupted. She had emerged from her bedroom with her hair in purple spikes, and wearing her Auror Trainee robes. "Rita's been writing scandalous stories for years and very few were able to squeeze any form of damage money out of her."

"Where's Hadrian?" Harry changed the subject, as he started to tackle the omelet on his plate with a fork and knife.

"With Rosalind and her 'precious'," Forest groaned. Rosalind had taken to calling the egg her 'Precious' after listening to Forest read snippets from the _Lord of the Rings _to Hadrian, Harry and whomever cared to listen in before Hadrian's bedtime. "My boy is starting to prefer the company of dragons instead of humans."

"Well, I am off to work. I've got my bloody Tracking test today. Wish me luck, boys!" Tonks made her adieu and left with a 'break a leg' from Forest and a 'good luck' from Harry.

"Well, Rosalind reckons the dragon in the silver egg is male." Harry said conversationally.

"That's nice." Forest looked down at his strip of bacon that was tangled in his fork.

"So, are you going to the Winters' Ball?" Harry asked his mentor, "I mean there's a high probability that Lucius is going to be there."

"Now, that's always a fun thought." Forest grinned with mischief, "I think I will go send my tuxedo out to the dry-cleaners. Nothing beats a good old Bondian suit. I hope Severus shows up, it's been years since we've had any form of communication."

"I take that as a yes?" Harry laughed.

"Hell yeah. It's too good of an opportunity to squander, and from what I've heard of Edward Winters from your friends over at Hogwarts, he sounds like a kindred spirit." Forest smiled, "So, who's showing up today?"

"Blaise, he's staying till he goes back to Hogwarts – His mother left for a two week trip to the Caribbeans with what Blaise calls 'sordid affair number I've already long bloody lost count'." Harry chuckled and then sighed, "I better go dust out his room for him."

"Poor him," Forest looked sympathetic, "Being the son of the Black Widow can't be too easy for him, can't it?"

* * *

When Blaise had gotten off the Hogwarts Express, and parted with all his friends, with promises from everyone to visit, promises to go shopping in Diagon Alley in preparation for the Ball, and his rather empty trunk shrunken down in the pocket of his own Muggle trench coat which Hannah and Hermione had ganged up on him to buy the previous summer, he got on the tube to ride the few stations to the street where the Leaky Cauldron was situated at. Heidi walked happily beside him, eager to see her Master, her tail wagging crazily.

Walking through the dimly lit Leaky Cauldron with Heidi in tow, Blaise found himself remembering days past where he, Harry, Hermione and Hannah had spent many meals and conversations. It had been some of the happier times in his life, where different days spent between Henry and with the gang could make him forget about his own non-existent family life. He acknowledged Tom with a nod in his direction, while the proprietor had given him a toothless grin back.

It didn't take him long to find the building which housed Harry's flat. He trudged up the stairs with his dragonhide boots and he pressed his palm against the centre of the wooden door. He shuddered when a glow was emitted from his hand and golden light started tracing a complex pentagram which then extended out into spirals.

Finally he heard a click, and the door swung open. Smiling, Blaise walked in with an eager Heidi, happy that the newly formulated wards had accepted him.

Only to be greeted to the sight of a snarling copper scaled dragon. The dragon stood on top of Harry's couch, and had spread out her impressive wingspan in a menacing way after noticing Blaise's entrance.

Heidi snarled back loudly, baring her own set of fearsome canine teeth. She was the reason why Blaise hadn't turned tail and fled back out the door. Half-grown dragon or not, Blaise did not relish combat with a being who could eat a human for breakfast and a few more for lunch.

_A little warning about the flat's occupants would be nice, Harry._

Blaise could hear Heidi's projection loud and clear.

_:. Who are you – dragon-beast? .:_

The dragon roared, but Blaise heard a familiar slithering noise and saw Zaliss glide elegantly on the floorboards. The great snake flicked his tongue in the direction of Blaise, and made a nodding gesture towards the boy, before bursting out into a series of hissing.

Blaise was surprised to see the dragon calm down, and actually hiss something back to Zaliss.

_Merlin, are these two bloody having conversation, here?_

_:. I don't know, Blaise. I don't understand Parseltongue or Dragon-tongue anymore than you do. .:_

_:. I think Harry is sometimes, really insane. A dragon? .:_

"Hey, I take it you are Blaise?" A man that Blaise thought looked eerily familiar despite his dress of Muggle casual attire strode towards the boy. "Hey there, Heidi! I am Forest. Sorry about that – I was in the laboratory, brewing."

"Uh... Nice to meet you, Forest," Blaise reached out to shake the man's hand, while Heidi eagerly sniffed the man's feet and to send out a few greetings of her own, "So, I take it, that my room is still my room?"

"No one's touched anything since you bunch left for Hogwarts. Harry did do a quick dusting and airing charm in your room though - earlier," Forest smiled at the boy, "Oh yes. Rosalind!"

Blaise's jaw dropped when the snarling dragon from earlier turn slowly around from her conversation with Zaliss to fix her brownish- gold eyes at Forest.

"This is Blaise Zabini. You should probably apologize... he's Harry's friend."

_A dragon apologizing? This is fucking weird._

Blaise watched as Rosalind gave him a curious look, and then took off, with her large wings propelling her to the wall that had a large whiteboard. She gripped one of the markers and removed the cap with her mouth. She wrote 'SORRY' in big letters and recapped her marker before flying to her original spot on the couch, which Heidi had claimed in her absence. An indignant snarl-fest was initiated, but Forest paid no heed.

"It's alright," Blaise found himself saying, "Just scared the shit out of me. Where's everyone else?"

"Tonks is out – doing her job... Harry's at well... I think Ivan's and Remus took my son out to frolic in the snow. I think today's Harry's last day of lessons."

"That's good. I have a question though." Blaise said as he started walking towards his room, which had the words Blaise Zabini etched neatly in his handwriting on the door.

"What is it?" Forest asked, curiously.

"You remind me of someone I've seen before. I think..."

"Ah. My surname is Malfoy."

"Oh, that explains it." Blaise looked curiously at the man, "So, how come I've never heard about you?"

"Abraxas' bastard child," Forest grinned rather inanely, "It has its perks... trust me. I've spent most of my recent years in America, anyways. Now if you don't mind – I've got Potions to tend to."

"Of course not," Blaise finally kicked his slightly ajar door wide open and entered the recently dusted room.

_This living arrangement is going to be bloody interesting._

* * *

**A/N: **Happy New Year!

Review – please? :D


	26. XXVI - The Calm before

**The Inbetween – **By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **Do not own anything familiar.

* * *

**Chapter XXVI – The Calm Before **

Harry and Ivan were sitting across from one another, elbows propped on the circular dark mahogany table that served as Ivan's dining table. The quaint stone teapot, with kanji painted in elegant brushstrokes in gold and red sat on a wooden tray, the inner sides of the wood tainted red, with two matching teacups sitting unused. Harry wasn't sure why there was a red ribbon tied to the spout, but figured that it was for some ornamental purpose. The other two were currently in use.

Harry was idly twirling one of the small ivory knives that he had acquired on his previous shopping venture, throwing the blade skillfully up, and catching it by its ornamental handle. Ivan, his long dark hair tied in a top-knot, was deep in thought, his mind pondering the parchment that sat in front of him.

"It is unfortunate..." Ivan clasped his hands together. Harry noticed the serious frown his mentor had on his face.

"What is?" Harry was confused.

"I have business that I need to take care of during the next weeks out of the country. And he goes, and springs this!" Ivan shook his head. Harry was surprised by Ivan's vestige of anger. "Putting all the tigers together in one arena."

Harry was no more informed than he was seconds ago, "It's just an invitation to a ball..."

"Not just any old party, if old Edward's throwing it." Ivan said gravely, "Danger..."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked, just as he caught the knife.

Ivan shook his head. "Albus is the least of our worries. Edward always invites what he calls an 'interesting' assortment of individuals. Unfortunately, certain interesting individuals do not play well with each other. And when the state of affairs is this bad..." The man drifted off and took a sip of tea.

"So I shouldn't go?" Harry was still baffled.

"Nay, to the contrary, it's important that you go. Imperative, actually – for your education. Keep your eyes and magic open, and trust no one you don't know. Bring _Despair,_ and keep her visibly with you at all times during the party. Even having her handle sticking out from your back is good enough. You will be under my protection. If you see Hurst, tell him I sincerely apologize for not being able to be there."

"Hurst?" Harry was so taken off-guard that he allowed his knife to hit the table.

_There were goblins attending this party? _

The blade's keen edge cut several centimetres deep into the wood.

"Yes, Edward has been collecting an interesting batch of friends over his lifetime. If you sense something is wrong, do what you think is best. Keep your head down, and learn what you can. In fact, stick with Edward's boy; he would be capable of giving you the rundown on who is who."

"Alright," Harry got up from the table, and tugged his blade out of the wood, "I will use my best judgement."

"That'd be wise," Ivan nodded, "And as long as your friends behave like eleven year-olds, and mind their own business, they should be fine. May Merlin be with you."

Harry grabbed his scarf and cloak, and gave Ivan one last nod, before walking out into the cold, leaving the scar on the table.

* * *

"Who are you?"

Blaise was immediately tackled by a blond blur when he was putting away some of his clothing in the chest of drawers beside his bed, half an hour later after he had first set foot into his room. Completely not anticipating such an assault, he felt himself land on his freshly made bed on his side, and a little boy who looked no older than five looked inquisitively at him with his mischievous green eyes.

"Blaise, Harry's friend," The dark haired Slytherin looked at the boy in surprise. He could tell by the boy's eyes, and his own logic, that this was Forest's son, "You must be little Hadrian?"

"I'm not little Hadrian; I am big Hadrian!" The little boy made a sound that was a cross between a roar and a squeal.

Blaise found it hard to keep a straight face.

"Where's my little terror?" Forest's voice was heard from outside the room.

"Not here, not here!" Hadrian whispered desperately in Blaise's ear after he had jumped onto Blaise's bed. "He's gonna make me take a bath! Here, I got chocolate!" The little boy emptied a half-eaten Honeydukes chocolate bar from his pocket.

Blaise was seriously very confused. One moment, he had been tackled by the devil's spawn, and now he was being bribed by said spawn. He accepted the chocolate bar, and mused that this was only one type of crazy out of the multitudes of crazies that seemed to exist in Harry's flat. Shame there wasn't a protocol for dealing with little kids that have already mastered the art of bribing.

"Hey, Blaise!"

He heard his door open again, and this time, the mad owner of the flat had arrived. "I hope you – Hey Forest! Hadrian's in Blaise's room! – found everything fine."

Hadrian was staring daggers at his ouster when his father arrived to drag him off to the bathtub. Forest smiled and apologized to Blaise for his son's antics.

"Everything's just fine... " Blaise sighed, "Dragons, crazy toddlers, talking familiars – yup, everything's just dandy!"

Harry grinned, "Come on, Blaise, what's a little unconventional between friends?"

Blaise laughed and pointed out, "You've got one angry little kid after you."

"Oh, that's alright," Harry said seriously, with the air of someone who was used to this sort of thing. "Nothing a little chocolate can't fix."

Blaise shook his head. He was starting to understand how things worked around here. He made a mental note to go buy some chocolate as soon as humanly possible. "You know he actually tried to bribe me with chocolate!"

"Yeah, he's going to grow up knowing that one can buy the world with chocolate," Harry smirked, "I blame Tonks, really – she started it."

"She's the Auror, right?" Blaise asked, "This place just gets more and more weird, doesn't it?"

"It sure does," Harry agreed, "So, what's the plan till Henry's party?"

"Well, Hermione's going to show up tomorrow, everyone else wants to go on Sunday to buy dress robes, presents, and other stuff for the Ball, and we have plans to show up at Winterwind early in the morning so we can open presents together on Christmas." Blaise gave the itinerary while following Harry out of his room, towards his living room. "So, wait, does Lucius know about Forest? I mean..."

"That he's not your conventional Malfoy?" Nope," Harry stopped in front of a simple fireproof wooden door that Blaise had noticed. It was the only main new addition to the living room he had became accustomed to over the years since his months at Hogwarts.

"So, where are we going?" Blaise looked suspiciously at the door.

"You'll see."

Blaise gasped in awe when Harry finally kicked open the door. He had been expecting something along the lines of the ambience found in his friend's living room, but not the wild sight that he saw at the present. The two boys strode over the dry massive rocks, and Blaise found himself sweating under the tropical temperatures. Before he could summon his own wand, Harry had already incanted a cooling charm for Blaise's robe.

Rosalind, the coppery dragon that had scared the shit out of him previously was sitting at the centre of a depression that was fenced off by many jutting rocks. Harry led him round the area, which rather reminded Blaise of ancient rock formations in which primitive wizards and witches would gather to perform rituals that he had seen in textbooks at home.

They approached Rosalind who snarled something at Harry that sounded rather menacing to Blaise, causing him to hesitate. But Harry simply hissed something back, and Rosalind gave a reassuring nod towards the hesitating boy. She then used one of her claws to point downwards.

There was a bright silver object that was nestled protectively between the female dragon's hind legs and under her spiny tail. It took Blaise a few seconds to register what it was.

"Bloody hell, it's an egg!"

Harry smiled, while Rosalind let out something that sounded something like a laugh.

"It's close to hatching," Harry explained, "I thought you might want to see the process. Come closer."

Blaise tentatively followed Harry. They sat down on the hard stone floor when they were barely a metre from Rosalind's crouch.

Finally after many silent minutes had ticked by, Rosalind leapt up from her position and blew a jet of fire directly on the silver egg. The dragon's fire had grown larger and more intense over the months since her hatching, and Harry noted that she had much greater control. There was a sound of a _crack_, and the she-dragon immediately halted her fire.

Blaise looked in astonishment as large fractures began to form along the gemstone-like surface of the large orb-like thing. A sticky head appeared first , followed by two front 'hands', a winged torso, and with Rosalind's help, the hind legs and tail emerged. Rosalind stuck out her tongue and proceeded to lick the newly hatched silver dragon clean.

"Males tend to be more docile than females..." Harry said to Blaise, "When Rosalind hatched, she snarled, kicked, scratched – it was bloody impossible."

"So, that dragon baby is a male?" Blaise asked, looking at the relatively content pair of dragons.

Harry nodded, before crawling closer to Rosalind and the dragonlet. They exchanged some more conversation, in which Blaise inferred that Harry had asked to hold the baby dragon. The boy scooped up the non-aggressive silvery dragon in his arms and gently petted the creature's forehead.

A puff of smoke emerged from the silvery nostrils.

"He's actually kind of cute," Blaise admitted, after gently petting the dragon himself, careful not to cut himself on the dragon's hard scales.

Rosalind looked highly amused and growled to Harry.

_;. He'll do fine._ _.;_

_;. What do you mean? .; _Harry asked.

_;. Babysitter – I've done my part. .; _Rosalind explained. _;. Dragons are pretty self-sufficient once they are out of the egg. Don't need mothering – just teaching, which you lot can do. .;_

_;. Slacker! .; _Harry smirked. _;. I knew there was a catch for letting us watch. .;_

Rosalind looked humorously at both Harry and Blaise before flying out of the room. _;. Later... suckers... .;_

Harry gently dumped the baby dragon into Blaise's lap.

"Well, looks like you are designated dragon-sitter. I've got to start dinner, or we are going to have a riot on our hands."

Blaise sighed, when Harry followed Rosalind out of the room. He shifted the weight of the dragon between his arms so that he was holding the hatchling the same way as one would hold a human infant.

"Looks like Mommy-dragon and Harry has abandoned you and me." Blaise mused melodramatically, "Looks like it's just you and I."

The dragon seemed to let out a snort of comprehension. The boy admired the way the light of the room played with the dragon's gleaming scales, and gently stroked the delicate membranes that made up the wings. They were almost transparent in colouration and the boy could see the hues of the rocks through the delicate membranous material. The eyes of the dragon, unlike Rosalind's gold-flecked ones, were a deep, dark blue, and Blaise swore he could've seen the male dragon wink at him.

_Who would have known? Blaise Zabini, dragon Keeper._

* * *

Harry, Blaise and Henry were walking the streets of Diagon Alley, after all the blokes had bought their clothes and were fed up with the girls who were still trying on various articles of clothing back at Madam Malkin's. Harry had everyone's purchases shrunk down in his convenient expandable sacks which were currently residing in his pockets, and the three were enjoying the relatively mild and cloudy day, with faint slivers of the disappearing sun dimly illuminating the skies.

"Who exactly is your father inviting to this soiree?" Harry finally asked, as the three made a turn towards Knockturn Alley.

Henry looked thoughtful, "To be quite honest, I am not sure. He was always a big fan of surprises."

"Has anything ever gone wrong in previous parties?" Harry probed further. Noting that they had left the relative safety of Diagon Alley, the boy summoned his magic sense, and was carefully vetting individuals that they walked past.

"Not really..." Henry said, "Except for a few people who drank too much, or someone spiked the punch or something... Why are you asking?"

"Ivan said something that was particularly worrisome..." Harry admitted, "My mentor." He added after seeing Henry's confused look.

Henry frowned; he was deep in thought, "Come to think of it... "

"Fuck – keep close to me and keep quiet," Harry said quietly, after noticing several shady, tall and strange characters converge quickly towards the group with his magic, "We will see what these people want."

Harry knew that the things that were approaching were not human, but there was really no need to alarm the two boys under his protection. In fact, after that day in the Market, he had been expecting this.

_He wasn't a fool. _

Blaise and Henry, who were starting to have a very bad feeling creep down their nerves, immediately grabbed onto Harry's cloak, feeling rather like little frightened children.

Harry immediately stopped walking forward, and said loudly and clearly. "There's no need to try sneaking up to me. I see you. All five of you."

"Foolish boy," A tall proud darkish pale woman, wearing a real fur cloak and a cape and heavily put on makeup suddenly appeared in front of Harry. Her steps were too graceful, too precise to be human. "Do you know who we are?"

"Alkara, is this wise?" Another graceful being, this one blond, with eyes that resembled amethysts, and dressed similarly to the woman, decked out in fur interjected."

"Don't interrupt me, Christien," Alkara hissed.

By this point, Blaise and Henry were shaking like leaves in a gale, while Harry remained passive. In fact, if Blaise and Henry were paying attention to their companion, there was a slight look of sardonic amusement in the form of Harry's smirk, and a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"If he's truly a fire mage, then we are all doomed." A third spoke, "He will burn us to Hellgates and beyond!"

"Nonsense," Alkara mused, "He's only a boy. Barely grown."

"He burned Lucien as if he was paper," The third spoke again.

"Stop it, Santos!" Alkara was highly annoyed.

Harry was becoming rather bored with the arguing vampires.

_This was seriously going nowhere, very fast._

"So, can we get to the crux of the matter? I have things to do, rather than to listen to a bunch of centenarians argue all day." Harry said with great exasperation.

If Blaise and Henry weren't busy being scared shitless, they would have laughed.

Alkara looked sharply at the impertinent human, "We can kill you, human."

"I'd like to see you try," Harry said, mockingly. Either this foolish vampire really had a fatalistic streak, or was just plain stupid, Harry wasn't too sure. "Cross this line, if you dare!"

Before Alkara could come up with an adequate comeback, orangey-red-white fire, with a distinct tinge of silver, shot up around Harry. The flames immediately grew larger and flared out dangerously towards the vampires, who were immediately forced to step back.

"So, are you against me?" Harry continued, "I really do not want this to become a permanent problem – you see. I know what you are thinking – oh we will get him when he sleeps at night, or we will kidnap one of the people he cares about... for revenge. It's a pity about Lucien, but he really should have picked an easier victim. Foolish. What was I supposed to know about vampires? As you said yourself, I am only a child. And if you do attempt to get back at me, I will burn your entire coven down. With _Fiendfyre._"

"You couldn't," Alkara finally said, "_Fiendfyre_ is beyond..."

"Are you stupid, woman?" It was Christien who yelled out, "You will be the end of us all! Lucien was a fool!"

"Lucien..." Alkara whispered, almost mournfully.

"Do we have a truce?" Harry interrupted.

"You have one," The fourth member of the circle finally intervened. He was a short man, dressed in a black cloak, with a red scarf wrapped around his neck. His skin was bronzed, but Harry had a feeling that the colouration was due to makeup, giving the vampire a more human appearance. Despite his stature, he radiated the most power out of the lot. He had been watching the scene unfold with the same sort of amusement that Harry had. "I am Malcolm, the Leader of the bunch. You are in the right, Lucien broke the code when he unwisely picked upon the wrong victim to feast upon without using the 'Mind gifts' although the use of fire was excessive, but understandable."

"I am Harry Grey, and I am glad you understand."

"It is nice to meet you Harry." Malcolm said with gravity, "You must forgive Alkara, for it was her fledgling you burned to cinders. But, then again, not everyone is capable of being a vampire... Most perish before they become truly strong... It's a very rigorous selection process, really. The fates have determined that Lucien was not fit to be one of us."

"I see." Harry nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"You intrigue me very much. It's rare a being walks upon this Earth, gifted with such raw power. Well, I feel that our paths may cross again. I wish you luck, Harry – _origo ignis..._"

_Origin of fire..._

And a few seconds later, the beings were gone.

"Bloody hell, am I never going to Knockturn Alley again," Henry exclaimed many long stunned seconds later; his brain trying to process whatever had just happened.

Blaise nodded – he was starting to feel his heart rate return back to its resting range and sensation returning to his numb appendages, "Never again. And those were vampires, weren't they, Harry?"

Harry sighed, before pulling out two bars of Honeydukes' finest from his pockets and handing them over to the boys. "Eat this, you will feel better."

Blaise and Henry tore open the packaging, and found the chocolate a small comfort for the event that had just transpired.

* * *

The silver dragon, having almost doubled in size since his hatch date, two days ago, crawled onto Blaise's bed, and snuggled beside the dark green pillow. He watched, as the human, who had introduced himself as Blaise, cut colourful paper from long cylindrical like objects and was using the material to wrap various objects.

Humans were very odd, indeed – but nevertheless, interesting to watch.

The boy had brought him buckets of chicken blood, mixed with brandy, which the dragon had drunk from during the past days. The substance had filled his belly with warmth, and had an interesting flavour to it. He knew from the time he had experienced in the shell of his egg, what the customs were in this place, as was imparted from the she-dragon's – Rosalind's – talking. No fire, no destroying things, and to play nice with the humans who were saving them from a fate worse than death.

It was an acceptable pact.

There was a knock, and the silvery dragon watched Blaise jump up from his wrapping and taping, to open the door, admitting a pair of girls in. The dragon sniffed the air, familiarizing himself with the scent molecules given off by the pair.

"So, Blaise," The blonde girl spoke, "I heard you've got a dragon?"

_Got a dragon? You can't own me! _

"I guess so, Hannah," The dark boy shrugged, "He follows me everywhere! Even to the washroom ever since Harry dropped him in my lap!"

_I do not!_ The silver dragon looked affronted. _I am not that clingy... Wait no; he feeds me, which is why I follow him all the time..._

"And here he is," Bush-haired girl walked over to Blaise's bed, and looked directly at him. "He has pretty scales."

_Why thank you..._ _Flattery will get you everywhere with a dragon..._ He released a puff of smoke from his nostrils, signalling his pleasure.

"Does he have a name – Blaise?" Braid-girl was asking Blaise.

"Beats me, ask him," Blaise sighed, "Rosalind apparently came up with her own name, so we think he will come up with one soon. He hasn't spoken a word, not even to Rosalind, Zaliss or Harry."

"Do you have a name, dragon?" Bush-haired girl was currently stroking his shiny scales, "Mine is Hermione, and the other girl standing beside Blaise is Hannah."

_A name... Hmm... _He blew air through his mouth, letting a rumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like a purr. _My name is... _ _I am... _

Blaise just realized something, "Um... why did I even let you guys in? I haven't finished wrapping presents yet!"

"We aren't looking!" Hannah exclaimed a little too quickly for Blaise's liking, while Hermione, whose eyes were on both the dragon and the contents of the current present being wrapped which was apparently for Terry looked slightly guilty.

"Out, out – out!" Blaise shooed his two best friends out, much to the amusement of the sole occupant of Blaise's bed. The Slytherin finally shut his door with a satisfying bang, and locked it with a _Colloportus_. "I am a bloody idiot!" He exclaimed before turning his attention back to the mess on the wooden floor.

_:. Hello bloody idiot – I am Chronos... .: _

Blaise was utterly taken aback by the sudden 'loud' projection from the seemingly untalkative dragon. Chronos seemed to smirk, before tucking his head between his front appendages.

_Always make the most of your first impression._ Chronos thought to himself, before finally drifting off to sleep.

_Wonderful, a dragon with a sense of humour..._ Blaise mused sarcastically to himself, as he wondered where on earth Hermione and Hannah had picked up such Slytherin-like tendencies over the past several months.

_It certainly wasn't from him!_

* * *

The Winterwind was situated in acres of rolling countryside, surrounded by old, formidable trunks of deciduous trees who have shod their leaves in the coldness of winter, and a frozen river crossed the property. Harry, Forest, Tonks, Hadrian, Blaise, Hannah, Hermione, Neville and Henry were sitting in the seats of a comfortable carriage, while two magnificent and large magical chestnut horses drew the carriage onwards on a recently plowed dirt road that was wide enough to accommodate two such vehicles.

The skies were grey, but it did not diminish the glory of the reddish-grey stone splendor that made up the manor. In fact, the dull skies added to the wintry atmosphere that the house was named for. The horses had reached the trees, and everyone was looking for signs of wildlife, after a moose had stepped out in front of the trunks. Hadrian was ecstatic when a pair of deer was seen nibbling on a bush.

Eventually, the trees receded, and Harry noted that at some point, some wizard or witch had caused the river to diverge, and form a moat around the house. The horses walked across the stone bridge which connected the mainland to the house and finally stopped in front of a set of grey stone stairs. Henry jumped off, followed by everyone else. He walked over to the horses, petted their big heads, and offered a carrot apiece, produced from his pockets. The animals took the treat, and after awhile, with a whisper from Henry, trotted off towards what were probably the stables.

"So here it is, the old Winterwind." Henry looked at his visitors as he introduced his abode with a look of pride.

Hermione's eyes gleamed as she surveyed the large structure. It was hard to believe that people actually lived in such big buildings on a daily basis, and she knew that Henry lived with his parents, and the people and elves that worked to maintain the colossal property.

She followed everyone up the stairs, where a balding man of middle-age was standing at the wooden ornate double doors. He wore a crisp white shirt, over which a vertically striped vest was worn over it. A neat black bowtie adorned his neck, and over this ensemble, a black fur cloak was draped over his shoulders.

"Hullo, Master Henry."

"Hullo, Nestor, would you kindly show our guests inside, it's a little chilly."

"As you wish, sir," The butler opened the door with a flourish, and Henry walked in, followed by everyone else.

Harry, Blaise and Neville soon found themselves dragged off by Henry through various hallways, stairs, and what Harry could have sworn a secret passageway, before arriving at a large room, painted green, with white moldings. A crystal chandelier illuminated the room.

"I thought we lot could have a sleepover tonight... I've never had one in my life – well besides the days where Blaise stayed over!" Henry exclaimed excitedly. "So I got Ricky – one of the house-elves – around here to move four beds in here. It's much too lonely to have one large to yourself, anyways. I asked Flora – another house-elf – who was in charge of planning who goes in which room, to give Hannah and Hermione the Lavender Room, in the Spring wing of the house. It's all nice and purple-y and –"

"So which room is this one?" Neville asked, interrupting the excitable Henry, "You know, just in case – we get lost or anything..."

Harry and Blaise had already taken out their trunks and enlarged them.

"Oh, this is the Leaves Room," Henry pointed to a motif on the wall that spanned the entire perimeter of the room. Exquisitely detailed painted leaves from all sorts of deciduous species spanned the space, and magic made the leaves swirl as if blown by an imaginary wind, "This is the Autumn Wing. The central places like the Library, Ballroom, Dining Hall, Kitchens and etc are located in the Winter Wing." He also pointed to what looked like real moving leaves swirling around the chandelier at the top. "I am quite fond of this room; it used to be my playroom, where my parents and I did a lot of things together." Henry smiled wistfully.

"We can't forget about the time where you..." Blaise grinned, but was immediately interjected by his friend, "Shush, let our embarrassing secrets remain silent!"

Actually, Henry had no idea what was about to come out of Blaise's mouth, considering the long list of stupid and crazy things the two boys had done in the past. One notable example happened over Christmas several years back, when Blaise had somehow managed to animate the plate of gingerbread cookies. The two boys had spent many minutes chasing after the cookies, and leaving a large trail of destruction behind them all throughout the Wing.

Needless to say, Henry's mother was not very impressed, neither was Nestor, who had to put things to rights afterwards.

His father; however, found it hilarious.

"So, is Nestor the butler?" Neville mused, "All the rich houses I've been in only kept house-elves..."

"Yup, Nestor's been around before I was around." Henry nodded, "We also have a groom to manage the stables, and at least ten house-elves to help deal with everything else. Mom's got them all wrapped around her fingers."

While the boys were chatting, Harry walked around the spacious room. The furniture was purely all made up of rosewood, from the four beds, a desk, large table, a chest of drawers, and bookshelves. There was various Wizarding board games stacked on the table, paintings of countryside scenery adorning the walls, and Harry eventually sat himself down on one of the luxurious leather sofas that were located beside the large rectangular windows that looked out into the grounds.

He had every intention of enjoying whatever the day had to offer; political intrigue afoot or not.

* * *

Severus Snape stood in his bedroom, surveying his old set of dress robes with distaste. It was ages since he had been invited to a party that he actually had interest in attending. He usually disappeared abroad whenever there was a hint of a Malfoy party, citing international Potions conferences as his reasons. He would rather inoculate himself with the contagious Dragon Pox rather than to subject himself to the horrendously boring aristocratic functions that his old friend Lucius was prone to throwing.

He had not been expecting to receive an invitation to Master Winters' Ball, which was the most highly anticipated event of the social calendar. But somehow, he had gotten one. He wasn't sure why he was invited, considering that he had never been invited prior to this year, but his instincts suspected that there was an interesting motive behind the invitation.

And that was enough to reel him in – hook, line and sinker.

The world, as Severus had known in the past ten years, was changing. The political landscape was being restructured, and Albus, who had once been on top of the game, was sinking downwards, particularly after the Harry-fiasco that had been leaked by one Rita Skeeter. His fears about Albus had been confirmed by Filius and Minerva a few days ago, after most of the students had left for the holidays.

He had been disgusted to learn of the abuse that had fallen upon _her_ son. It was almost impossible to fathom that the doddering old fool had done this much damage to a child, especially with one so innately powerful.

_Some fools never learn._ Severus was forced to draw upon the known parallels between the past Tom Riddle and Harry Potter.

It was scarily, very similar.

As if Dumbledore had control over either of them at the end, anyways. Both would-be pawns were beyond Albus' grasp, and the latter had more power than Albus or the former could have ever dreamed of.

He knew he was getting out of Hogwarts as soon as possible.

After this school term – he had written his resignation letter already, and he planned to drop it on Albus on the last day possible. And then, he was going to vanish, just as efficiently as Harry had done. What he was going to do after that, he had no idea.

But first, there was the matter of the Ball.

With a quick flick of his wand, he transfigured his old dress robes to ones with a more modern and stylish cut. No point in looking drab in front of high-society. As an afterthought, he added a faint tinge of forest green to the edges of the robes. He summoned a green tie, and a white shirt, and proceeded to dress in his new clothing. He then conjured a black hair tie, and tied back his hair.

He hated tying back his hair. It left him feeling so exposed. But nevertheless, he did so anyways.

_It was time for a change, anyhow._

Finally he fetched his long black cloak, which contained a shrunken bag that held the things he needed for the night in one of the pockets. He then strode out of his quarters, wondering what exactly the evening would bring.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the one month delay! I haven't ditched – don't worry!

Poor Blaise, Rosalind and Harry are dumping the responsibilities onto him... and subjected to vampires! Most of my ideas of vampires are derived from Anne Rice's vampires – shame she doesn't support fanfiction, because I love her books!

I thought of some random ideas on Friday while coming back home from the lab/university, and I hope that these ideas will be processed quickly by my muse for this story. The anticipated Ball is definitely going to happen in the next chapter, for sure.

If you are interested in reading more of my work, there are eight chapters of another HP – redo story **(Resolution)** posted under my penname. Feel free to check it out while you are waiting for me to come out with Chapter 27 or XXVII.

**The Otter Puff: **It's really kind of strange how ideas come to fruition. I got the premise for _Resolution_ in a strange dream shortly before New Years, and little things can trigger interesting ideas too, such as taking a walk outside. Or even when I am studying for midterms, ideas just drift by while I am looking at things that have nothing to do with writing HP fanfics.

Please tell my brain how glycolysis has anything to do with Harry Potter. Geez... (Yes, I am studying biology in University... Could it _be_ any more obvious?) I've personally done all the techniques that I've referenced throughout the story.

I was reading a lot of independent!Harry fanfics prior to writing _The Inbetween_, and I was like, heck yes, I think I can write my own interesting spin on that genre, and so here we are – twenty six chapters later.

And for those of you who have read _Resolution_, I kept typing Evander instead of Harry when I was writing this chapter. Very annoying quirk... I also did that once with Blaise too... *headdesk

Still not sure about what pairings are going to happen in either story. This is the problem when you don't have a strong preference for any particular ship. I can read most ships happily in other fanfics so I guess that will be a happy mystery. (People keep asking, and I have no idea!)

Thanks for all the support – it's really motivating!

Anyways, review?


	27. XXVII - Premonition

**The Inbetween **– By Slytherin's Dragon

**A/N: **My early update for you all. So here it is; the chapter that you've all been waiting for.

Don't own anything that you recognize. Everything else is a product of my imagination, partly influenced by the numerous fantasy genres I've read throughout the years.

* * *

**Chapter XXVII – Premonition**

The mirror reflected the image of a person immaculately dressed, in striking dress robes of matte black, a crisp charcoal dress shirt, and a silver tie with the perfect lustre that matched the solitary silvery lock of hair that fell casually over the boy's forehead. There was almost a predatory gleam that flashed in the boy's eyes, well pleased with the effect of his clothes, before he bent down to carefully pick up the silver and black leather scabbard, that contained _Despair._ With a bit of magic, the scabbard was slung over his shoulders, serving as invisible straps to hold the weapon in place. The hilt of the blade protruded over his left shoulder.

He permitted a smirk, noting that he looked far beyond his meagre eleven years. His smirk vanished, when a flurry of knocks assailed the washroom door.

"Harry, are you done yet? We are going to be late!" Henry's voice could be heard from the door. Harry grinned when he heard the impertinent boy mutter, "Merlin, he's worse than my mother..."

After one last glance at the mirror, Harry turned away and opened the door, revealing an exasperated looking Henry, already fully dressed in his own set of dress robes. The blue of Henry's robes was so dark, that it was almost black. The two boys walked through the hallway, before reaching a landing. The bustle of activity and the growing chatter of the arriving guests were starting to be heard.

They descended the ornate spiral staircase, the banisters outfitted with seasonal pine needles. Henry stopped halfway down the stairs, and Harry peered over the railing, realizing that they had a clear view of the massive room that was serving as the reception area. Various guests were entering via a handsome set of wooden double doors, while others flashed through the fireplace, and were immediately received there by a group of waiting house-elves.

"So, you want to know who's who," Henry mused quietly to Harry and started to point to various people, "That dull looking couple over there is the Parkinsons', and that's their daughter, Pansy, who's in our year. Draco's quite fond of her, for reasons I cannot fathom –"

Henry continued for quite some time before Harry interrupted. "Who is that blonde girl over there? Talking to Nestor?"

Henry craned his head over to a set of tables which contained punch bowls, wineglasses, platefuls of finger foods, and several expensive bottles of alcohol, where Nestor was opening and decanting with efficient ease while chatting to an exceptionally pretty girl, with wavy hair, and in neutral green dress robes. She had a carnation tucked in her hair.

"Ah," Henry grinned, "Lorelei; she's Hurst's adopted daughter."

Harry raised his eyebrow in surprise, "Her father's a goblin?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded, "She went to school in the States. Actually, I am really surprised that she showed up at all this year. Very little people know about Hurst's daughter, and an even smaller subset of people know her personally. She is pretty though... I've met her once, when my parents and I went abroad several years back. I remember she took me around the gardens of the Chateau we were staying at. I also vaguely remember telling my father that I wanted to marry her afterwards. He chuckled and told me that she was at least a decade older than I was."

Harry laughed, and then went into more business, "So that goblin over there in the black robes and blue tie is Hurst, but who are his companions?"

"The one to his right in the dark red robes with the big black beard is Marzug. He runs the Middle Eastern version of _Gringotts_, and he and Hurst go long back, according to my dad. The one to Hurst's left is Leander. He's the heir to one of the three big European goblin families, although, I've forgotten which one. Rumor has it that his old dad is horribly sick, and Leander's starting to shoulder the political burdens. So yeah, he's big in the world of Goblins. You will probably see Galina – she's Leander's wife, and my dad did say that Klara is coming."

"Who's Klara?" Harry asked.

Henry explained, "Klara is what the goblins call the 'Master Smith'. In addition to setting the standards and rules that all European goblin smiths must follow, she has the power to veto the decisions made by the House of Goblins under most circumstances."

"Wow, that seems odd," Harry mused.

Henry shook his head, "Smithing is an art held most dear to the Goblins. In order to be the Master Smith, you must not only be a great Smith, but have to win the favour of the goblin-folk, via an election."

Harry soon found himself distracted by another presence on the floor below. Henry, noticing that his companion's attention was elsewhere, followed Harry's line of vision to a tall man that bore a strong resemblance to himself and his father.

"That man is not natural," Harry remarked, sensing something very strange about the man-no-creature's magical signature. He had a feeling that this vampire was a specimen more ancient than Malcolm. "Yet, he could pass for your father. Only that he has brown hair."

Henry sighed, "It's been a long running joke that Uncle Clement is a vampire, and I think..."

"It's no joke." Harry said seriously.

"That would explain a lot of things." Henry grinned in comprehension after a long pause, "If you look at old family portraits going back way back when, you always see someone that looks exactly like Uncle Clement. He must keep reinventing himself or something like that... He never ages, never changes. Always visits in the late afternoon, just after the sun goes down. Always got loads of stories about our family history, always comes bringing exotic gifts. Nice gentleman."

"The family vampire..." Harry said with a smirk.

"I suppose," Henry agreed with a smile, "Can't wait to spring that on my dear ole dad."

"I think we can stop being wallflowers now, and join –"

"Merlin, is that Tonks and Forest?" Henry interrupted, pointing to a doorway, "And are they – kissing?"

Harry smirked at the sight of his Potions Master, in his well-tailored suit that would do any secret agent proud, and Tonks in a set of dark red dress robes with an oriental flavour – transformed tonight into a dark beauty. His eyes then widened when he noticed the mistletoe set above the doorway leading to the ballroom. There was a strange knot of magic within the decoration.

"Want to bet that someone put a very strong compulsion charm on that mistletoe?"

* * *

Severus Snape found himself completely disoriented on the reception floor. There were all sorts of people and creatures present, from DMLE Head Amelia Bones to fabulously wealthy individuals, like Evgeny Reznikov, CEO of the company who manufactured the Nimbus line of brooms, to several highly positioned goblins. He could have even sworn that he had walked by at least two powerful vampires, disguised cunningly like humans. But vampires of such age and power needed very little blood for sustenance, and as a result, Severus knew that they were no threat to anyone present.

Deciding that he seriously needed a drink, he headed towards the refreshment tables, where he was surprised to see Fred Weasley hovering suspiciously over one of the enormous glass punch bowls. The Weasley twin looked cautiously at Nestor's back, before quickly pouring the contents of one of the stronger liquors into the bowl. His twin was standing beside him and leaning in a very strategic way, blocking his mischief making brother from viewers from the other side.

"Brewing, gentlemen?" Severus quirked an inquisitive eyebrow at the twins.

The Potions Master smirked when George jumped in shock at the voice of their infamous Potions professor. He mused that all three of them were thinking along the same wavelength.

_How on earth did he/they get invited to such a posh party?_

"So, may I inquire about what else I shouldn't be indulging into tonight?" Severus asked, after a moment of a somewhat awkward silence.

"Um... This punch bowl and you might want to stay away from the mistletoes, sir." Fred finally admitted, "Some are safe, but frankly, I am not sure which ones are... let's say rather insistent upon the completion of such a yuletide tradition."

Severus looked amused when he turned to see two random people kissing under the nearest mistletoe. They had looks of utter confusion upon their faces when they were released from the spell. "So may I also inquire to who would be responsible for spreading such cheer?"

"Um, we cannot disclose, sir. It's against the honour system." George answered, with utmost seriousness in his voice and countenance.

Severus nodded knowing instinctively that it was futile to try any harder, before grabbing a bottle of the finest firewhiskey the table had to offer, and decanting the contents into the closest glass he could find.

And then, he caught the familiar sight of Lucius Malfoy. Even if it was Lucius, it was reassuring that there were indeed people he knew at the party. He started walking over to Lucius, only to see him stop oddly, and stare at another person. Severus found it extraordinary that Lucius, the epitome of cold decorum, would gawk like that.

At first, Severus thought that Lucius was looking at the red dress robed girl, but he figured that she was too dark for Lucius' taste, and turned his attention to the man she was with.

_Bloody Merlin, is that Forest...?_

He hadn't seen Forest in over a decade. He knew that the man had gone over to the States shortly he was done his Mastery, and since then, Severus had lost contact with him.

He watched as Lucius walked over to Forest.

_Oh this was going to be good..._ Severus inched closer towards the two Malfoys. He knew who Forest really was, but out of respect for his older friend, he had kept mum about Lucius' older half-brother.

"Who are you?" Lucius looked Forest up and down, unbelievingly.

Severus knew that Forest looked like a youthful version of Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius' father, and seeing Forest in the flesh was like seeing a ghost for Lucius. Forest's face was passive, but Severus could recognize the subtle glimmer of amusement in the man's eyes.

"Forest," Forest grinned, pausing dramatically before going in for the kill, "But some call me, Master Malfoy or even... Dr. Malfoy."

Lucius looked like he was going to faint. The girl, who was standing beside Forest, looked like she was going to die of silent hysterics. Severus then realized that the girl standing beside Forest was Nymphadora Tonks. He found himself wondering on what twisted turn of fate would cause those two to meet.

But of course, Lucius recovered his equilibrium pretty quickly, and said in a relatively modulated but cold voice, "What on earth are you wearing?"

"A tuxedo, Lucius," Forest explained patiently as if to a child, "It's all the rage in the good old United States of America. And if you would kindly observe, I am not the only one attired as such."

Severus found himself looking around. The man had a point. There were people, probably Americans, and maybe even some half-blood Brits, who had eschewed the old traditional dress robes for the simpler, less fussy Muggle-styled dress. In fact, several of the tuxedo-attired men had even removed their jackets, and were walking around in their shirts, trousers and ties. Several of the ladies were wearing dresses of Muggle origin as well. Even one of the suspected vampires was wearing a tuxedo that could rival Forest's in taste and style.

Lucius sighed painfully, "And our proud heritage is no doubt, going down the drain..."

"Actually," Forest said with an amount of mirth that was equivalent to Lucius' pain, "I would call it progress. Wizarding England is so last century. Well then, see you later, dear little half-brother."

Severus immediately bolted for the closest available washroom and cast the strongest silencing charm in his repertoire, after Forest had left with Tonks in tow.

_There was no way in hell he was going to have a laughing fit in public._

* * *

"Mr. Grey, it is a pleasure to see you again," Hurst, the _Gringotts'_ Head, bowed low to Harry.

Remembering the Goblin etiquette he had learned under Ivan's tutelage, Harry immediately bowed low, before replying, "It is an honour, Head Goblin."

Hurst smiled, pleased with Harry's reply and display of respect, before saying, "Call me Hurst, goblin-friend."

"Then I would insist that you call me, Harry," Harry gave the goblin an equal smile, "Ivan sends his regards, and his apologies."

"It is a shame," Hurst said, "Ivan's done a lot for both our species. He's our greatest hope for peace... but nevertheless..." He then gestured for Harry to sit, on one of the comfortable, tasteful chairs that inhabited the small sitting room.

"There are forces beyond our control..." The goblin that Henry had introduced as Leander said solemnly. He was clad in dress robes of green, and he wore his blond hair long in a ponytail. He carried a sword, slung across his shoulders. He was taller than the usual goblin and looked far younger than both Marzug and Hurst. "We try our best, but neither humans nor goblins are species to let go of past hurts and forgive. The ties between the two governments of wizards and goblins in Europe have been eroding exponentially for the past decade, ever since the disappearance of you-know-who. We don't know what's going on, exactly. Unfortunately, my family is only one House, out of three major ones that all Goblins are divided upon, and not all feel the same way about peace as Marzug, Hurst and I do. Even within our family, there is tension."

"This goes beyond wanting wands, and the secrets to smithing, doesn't it?" Harry mused, after a second to reflect upon Leander's statement, trying to recall what little he knew about goblin history.

"That was the crux before everything else happened." Marzug said, with a thick Middle-Eastern accent, "What your people call the Goblin wars, and what we goblins call the Wizard wars. It's all a matter of perspective, really. There were no winners, only losers. And some goblins believe that blood must call for blood."

"So, why are you telling me all this?" Harry asked in bafflement.

"Because, Harry," Hurst said very gravely, "You are one of the few that are truly free to make your own choices, to carve your own destiny and while doing so, shape the landscape around you. You sneeze, and a Nation can catch the flu. You will be courted by many sides, as you mature. You are incredibly powerful. You are intelligent, and Ivan speaks highly of you. We are the few goblins, and few humans that toil behind the scenes regardless of our differences, for one noble aim. That someday our world will know peace. Not the fragile walking on eggshells peace that we have now, but real peace."

There was a long silent pause of reflection for all parties. Marzug stroked his beard, while Leander looked stonily ahead, deep in thought, while Hurst had a somewhat worried expression on his face. Harry stared directly at the fire that burned in the fireplace across from where he was sitting.

"I think that we've kept Harry here for too long, he is still young, and unlike us, still has the energy to enjoy the night. Leander, you should go find your wife, and have a dance or two." Marzug smiled rather fondly at Leander, and then shared the same smile with Harry, "May the fires be with you, young mage."

"Say hello to my daughter for me, if you see her." Hurst said, before giving Harry a nod which signalled the end of the conversation, "She's Lorelei, the apple of my eye..."

Harry bowed one last time, before walking out of the small room that he had been discreetly pulled into many minutes back.

* * *

"Harry! Dance with me!" Hermione finally managed to push her way through the throngs of dancers to her friend, just as the tune changed to a cheerful waltz. She grabbed her friend's hands, and Harry found himself settling in the familiar dance steps. He was incredibly glad that he had asked Forest and Remus for dancing lessons.

"You look nice, tonight," Harry mused, admiring her sky blue dress robes, and that she had somehow managed to get her unruly hair into a neat chignon. It made her look so grown up, despite her age. He smiled fondly at her.

"You do too," Hermione grinned, "Dressed to kill."

Harry laughed, "That was the effect I was aiming for. Henry was complaining that I take just as long as a woman!"

"Oh, I will have a talk with him... Honestly... he's bloody impossible!" Hermione said with serious look on her face.

"Having fun?" Harry said lightly, just as he twirled Hermione around.

"Yeah, I think Neville is having way too much fun though." Hermione admitted, "Those compulsive mistletoes were his idea."

"He's came a long way," Harry smiled, "I still remember the days when our Neville was timid and shy."

"Yeah," Hermione grinned, "It's hard to believe he was the same shy person."

The two danced quietly for several more minutes, with Harry discreetly steering them towards a certain blonde woman in a set of green dress robes. Neville cut in at the end of the waltz to ask Hermione to dance, and Harry turned his attention towards Lorelei.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Harry said respectfully, just as Lorelei blushed and said, "Of course. You are Harry right? My father asked me to keep an eye for you."

Harry noted that despite the impish and playful look in her eyes, there was a strange sort of seriousness within them. It wasn't the eyes of a woman who was out to enjoy a night of dancing, but rather...

"Yes, I was just talking to him a while back. He asked me to say hi to you for him." Harry nodded and then said, "I can see why Henry wanted to marry you."

Lorelei laughed. It was like fairy bells. "Oh, Henry Winters! I just danced with him a while back. Inherited the gilded tongue of his father! Edward is an impossible man!"

_Like father, like son_. Harry mused, remembering Hermione's comment about Henry during the previous dance. "Enjoying yourself?" Harry then inquired.

Lorelei's tone grew grave and she bent down to whisper in Harry's ear. Harry found himself wishing that he was a lot taller. "I would like to say yes, but there is something wrong... I don't know. I can't articulate it. Something is off." She then said in a louder and cheerier voice, "Of course I am."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked quietly; a little perplexed. He was starting to understand the odd look in her eyes.

She shrugged, "My instincts are hardly ever wrong. It's a premonition of things to come. I haven't told my father, but I think he senses it too. There's a storm coming, Harry and we are all in the dark. I wish Ivan was here, he would know what to do." She whispered the last sentence into Harry's ear.

Harry nodded, "I will keep an eye out."

"Look after yourself, Harry. I am going to find my father." She whispered at the end of the dance, before carefully slipping the red carnation out of her hair, and tucked it into Harry's breast pocket, and with a determined look made her way out the ballroom, in a swirl of dress robes.

* * *

"Hello, Severus, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Forest found the professor lounging near the refreshment tables, a glass of well-aged Firewhiskey in hand.

"Indeed," Severus looked at his old friend with interest. Forest had proven himself to be a very capable and intelligent man, back in the day when they were apprentices. He noticed that the man had hardly aged since those good old days. "What brings you across the ocean?"

"Things, like curiosity, and a mid-life crisis." Forest admitted, "I needed a change of scenery. You haven't happened to have yours yet? Each bloke is entitled to one, you see."

Severus smirked, "I think I am about to have mine..."

"What makes you say that?" Forest looked curiously at the younger Potions' Master, "I heard you were a professor at Hogwarts. I thought you hated children!"

"That's precisely why. I hate children. I hate teaching dunderheads." Severus said; tongue a lot looser after several glasses of alcohol, "I feel that I've wasted ten years of my life."

"Pity," Forest sighed and then mused, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Quit." Severus admitted, after draining the last drop of his glass. He had already lost track of exactly how much alcoholic beverages of the highest quality he had partaken. It was a very good thing that he was a man who could hold his liquor.

"Why don't you quit in the New Years, then. I think I've got an interesting project that may be worth your time and talent. You could just mail in your resignation." Forest suggested, "But of course, it's top secret."

Severus' eyes gleamed, jumping at the opportunity to sever his ties to his old hated profession. "Of course it is. We can talk details on another date. Will you owl?"

Forest nodded, just as the disguised Remus showed up, with Hadrian up on his shoulders.

"Hello, Romulus," Forest grinned, and then looked up at his son, "Hadrian, I seriously hope you are behaving yourself."

Hadrian stuck out his tongue out at his father. "Me, Hadrian, always behave myself."

Severus watched Forest and 'Romulus' talk with interest. There was something oddly familiar about Romulus.

He just couldn't fathom what with his alcohol muddled brain.

* * *

Harry walked out of the ballroom, shortly after Lorelei's departure, finding that despite his temperature regulation charm on his clothes, he felt rather warm. People were gathered in pairs, and groups out in the reception area, chatting, eating the appetizers, and drinking beverages.

He stopped when he reached the grand piano that was placed behind the stairs which he and Henry had made their entrance into the party. He lifted the lid that obscured the real ivory keys of the instrument, and after staring at the ivories, his hands, seemingly of their own accord, placed themselves on the keys, and a simple waltz-like melody, completely of Harry's own improvisation, emerged.

Conserving the main melody, Harry proceeded to play with an assortment of styles, from jazz, to turning the melody into a four-voice fugue, while somehow managing to keep the transitions natural. He hardly noticed when another person sat beside him on the black, plushy Steinway bench.

"Interesting," The woman whispered into Harry's ear, "The devil's child, indeed. Powerful, oh so powerful. Clement sensed your presence long before you emerged from the stairs with his descendent."

Without losing the beat, Harry continued to play on, while using his magic-sense to examine the 'person' beside him. It was the she-vampire that had shown up with Clement earlier. She was tall and lithe, while makeup covered her face, allowing for her to pass as human. Her hair was jet black, cascading down her shoulders, and her eyes were almost just as dark.

Her close proximity made Harry feel cold.

"You know my nature, don't you, child?" She smiled.

Harry barely nodded, "Yes. But I am curious. Why? Why pretend to be human, and interact with them?"

The woman laughed darkly and opened her mouth, temporarily showing Harry her pointed eyeteeth, before retracting them to their normal human form. She then whispered quietly – so quietly that only Harry's magic could pick up the waves. "We were all human once. Some divorce themselves from humanity, and go into seclusion, the deepest of the wilderness and are never heard from again. While most others fall in love with the beings we once were. It is a dangerous condition, for most fledglings perish due to this madness. There is something so seductive, so charming about humanity that we vampires spend our eternal life trying to understand. Clement and I call ourselves the Watchers. We both have descendents that we love, as only a vampire could."

"Ah, like 'Uncle' Clement's visits to the Winters'." He played onwards, well-aware that his playing had attracted a curious audience.

"Precisely," She smirked.

Harry found himself musing about the days back when he used to cut, to see the blood ooze, to see evidence that he was indeed a human being, still alive. He had replaced this habit with his observations and interactions with his fellow humans, despite feeling somewhat detached. But nevertheless, it had changed him in ways that he had never thought were possible. It had interesting parallels to what the she-vampire was revealing to him. He could relate to what she was talking about. They were watchers and participants of the human world, but there would always be a piece or two that will always be missing for the pair of them. All thanks to the nurturing environment that he had been brought up in.

She looked at him curiously. "You comprehend don't you? I know you do."

He simply nodded.

"Fascinating," She finally said a minute later as she got up from the bench. "Ah, there's Clement. I will be watching out for you."

* * *

It was during dinner, when the sense of unease began to creep along Harry's nerves. Everything seemed fine, from Nestor and the House-elves serving their guests with their impeccable skill, the conversation topics were innocent enough, and everyone seemed to be all smiles. He was sitting across Forest, who was busy trying to get Hadrian to not build things out of his food, and most notably, beside Madam Bones, who was sitting to his right.

It was a very quaint seating arrangement. Harry felt.

"Madam Bones," Harry said respectably to the Head of the DMLE sitting beside him, who was partway in tackling the roasted duck appetizer, garnished with an assortment of vegetables.

"That would be me," Amelia replied back, "And who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

"Harry Grey, madam," Harry smiled back, while taking a bit of the duck himself, savouring the juiciness.

"The duck is divine," Amelia complimented, "I've always loved Edward's dinners."

The small talk continued, with others joining in. Harry found himself tuning out of the conversation and observing the people and creatures around him. He spread his magic sense throughout the entirety of the room, trusting nothing, trusting no one. He saw Lorelei sitting beside Henry and Blaise, and they seemed to be joking around, while her father sat across from her, seeming to be totally delighted with the various selections of the main course, especially with the wild roasted spiced boar. Leander was sitting beside another goblin, which Harry was unfamiliar with, but it was a safe bet that it was his wife, Galina. Hannah and Hermione were enjoying themselves on the far end of the table. It wasn't until the dessert dishes were put away – the most scrumptious date squares, and delightful crème brulee accompanied by equally heavenly vanilla ice cream until...

He saw it.

Something was wrong. And that something wrong was in the cup of strong tea that Leander had just picked up after it had been placed on the table by someone that Harry had missed. And what seemed to Harry, the slowest microseconds of his life, Leander brought the beverage slowly up to his mouth.

_Leander stop! Don't drink! Danger!_ _Danger!_

Harry's mental projection was so loud, despite being directed only to the goblin, the other preternatural creatures sitting at the table winced, being particular sensitive to such forms of communication. The female vampire who was sitting within arm's reach of Leander, upon hearing Harry's warning, leapt up with speed, and grabbed the goblin's arm.

But Harry knew it was too late.

Before Leander could protest, the tall she-vampire stood up, and gestured for silence, "We need Healers, and Potions Masters, now! Poison!"

"But I am fine!" Leander protested.

_Check for radiation in the tea, Forest!_

Harry projected to his mentor who was in the process of getting out from his chair. Forest nodded, while Harry kept his magic sense spread out, remembering Ivan's warning regarding people. Several people were fussing over Leander, while someone remarked that they really needed to fetch a goblin healer. Hadrian had ditched his position on the chair, and had crawled underneath the table, towards Harry. Harry instantly wrapped his arm protectively around the boy, not letting him get off to mischief.

Amelia Bones suddenly got up, after taking a few seconds to think.

"Everyone, stop!" The DMLE Head immediately ordered; the authority in her voice caused everyone to halt. Harry knew that this method of poisoning was completely foreign to British wizards. The victim was currently fine, but she couldn't really call an investigation unless if there was definite proof of wrongdoing. "Department of Law Enforcement. We need proof of poisoning, before we can call in Aurors to investigate attempted homicide!"

"You might as well make that a homicide, Madam Bones." Forest spoke gravely after pointing his wand at the contents in the cup to perform his diagnostic test, specific for radiation. The liquid immediately turned pink for twenty seconds, before returning back to its original colour. "Polonium-210; an extremely rare Muggle 'toxin'; a mouthful at this concentration is more than enough to kill within weeks. Leander's a dead-goblin-walking. There is no cure." He then sealed the cup and its contents in a special box that he conjured out of thin air before surrendering it to the DMLE head.

"And you are?" Amelia asked out of curiosity and necessity.

"Master Forest Garrett Malfoy, Potions' Master – American citizen – if you wish to do a different confirmatory test on the poison, it is best if you seek the help of Muggles. The diagnostic I just used is commonly known in the American scientific community."

There were many gasps in wonderment when Forest said his name despite the disbelieving shock. It was hard to believe that with all the Winters' care and preparation, that someone essential in the world of goblin politics would be dead soon, considering that the victim hadn't shown a single symptom of poisoning.

Harry noticed Draco, who was sitting beside his father and mother, gawking at his half-uncle.

"I can confirm the validity of Forest's test," Another man, clearly from the other side of the ocean judging by his accent and dressed in a tux, said as he got up from his seat. "It's a variant of the Radiation _Revelio_ spell. Name's Alexander Park, MD, or Healer in your jargon – American citizen. And we really ought to get a goblin-healer."

Amelia jotted down the man's information, and his comments on a pad of parchment, below her information about Forest.

Leander was extremely perplexed, while his wife, who had caught Forest's meaning, looked completely devastated. Harry knew she was fighting back her tears, for goblins do not cry in public, especially amongst humans.

The reality of the situation finally sunk in when Leander suddenly vomited over the table a minute later. Harry shook his head, calculating that barely ten minutes had elapsed since the poisoning, which meant that it was radiation ingestion of the most severe degree. Forest hurried to ward off the biohazardous radiation-contaminated vomit area with a containment ward, while the few professional Healers present at the party immediately jumped into action including Dr. Park, helping Leander out of his chair, while a House-elf directed them to a private room, with Marzug, Galina and several other goblins following them.

All wore grim expressions on their faces. Forest quickly passed on a radiation containment bucket that he had just conjured to one of the Healers for any more future waste.

Amelia had finally gotten her hands on Master Edward and was talking avidly to him before casting a _Patronus _to alert the happenings to her Aurors, while Nestor proceeded to shut off every conceivable route out of the manor with the help of Edward's wife, Adrianna. Tonks, despite her dress robes, started the protocol to process the supposed crime scene.

In the corner of his eye, Harry caught Lorelei sobbing into her father's left shoulder. Hurst had somehow found several sheets of parchment, and was busy composing several letters at once, while consoling his daughter at the same time. Harry could see from where he was sitting that one was to Ivan, while others were to correspondents, unknown.

Harry now understood what Hurst had been referring to, when he said, 'if you sneeze, an entire Nation could catch the flu'.

And maybe, even plunge Wizarding Europe into a third war.

He had unintentionally altered a sequence of events, by simply knowing that Leander was poisoned with radiation and without even having to use his voice, or get out of his chair. The radiation wasn't meant to be detectable by any means that Wizarding Britain, or Wizarding Europe had. Even if they did have the means to detect the poison, the radioactive isotope was so rare, that it was unlikely that anyone, Muggle or Wizard, would have diagnosed the patient ever, let alone before the patient was dead.

Leander would have been declared to have died of unknown circumstances – a quiet assassination at a much later date.

_Not even the Elixir of Life could save him now._ Harry reflected, due to the acute nature of the poisoning.

And he really wasn't quite sure what the exact consequences of his actions were.

But he did know that one thing was true.

_Wizarding Britain would never be the same again_.

* * *

**A/N: **Review?

**4/27/13 - Discontinuing - rewrite in progress on profile. Just putting this here since people don't read the disclaimers on the first chapter and the description of the story itself. The new version is called The Inbetween - Reimagined. **


End file.
